By Katrina Homel
On Jan. 8, then-Gov. Phil Murphy signed a law that requires boards of education to adopt policies restricting student use of internet-enabled devices, including cell phones, during the school day and other specified times. These bans would take effect during the 2026-27 school year. Phone-free schools were identified as a policy priority by Murphy in early 2025 due to concerns about the impacts of these devices on student mental health, well-being and academic achievement.
Accordingly, the N.J. Department of Education (NJDOE) published guidance on student use of internet-enabled devices in September 2025. Later that month, the New Jersey Commission on the Effects of Social Media Usage on Adolescents published its report, “Growing Up Online.” The report recommended that districts institute “a bell-to-bell ban on the use of cellphones and social media in school.” In October, the NJDOE launched the Phone-Free Schools Grant Program, awarded to 86 school districts in the state.
Murphy approved the new law shortly before leaving office. It defines an “internet-enabled device” as “a smartphone, tablet, smartwatch, or other device capable of connecting to the internet and enabling the user to access content on the internet, including social media applications.” They do not include devices that schools may provide used for an educational purpose. Boards of education, including public school districts and charter schools, must adopt policies addressing use of these devices by students not only during the regular school day, but also on the school bus and during school-sanctioned events where a school employee is directly supervising the student.
These board policies must also speak to the use of internet-enabled devices during an emergency situation and can have stricter limitations than required by law. The NJDOE was tasked with issuing new “age appropriate and grade-level differentiated” guidelines for boards to follow within 90 days after the law was signed. These updated guidelines were available in late in January. The law required that they:
- Prohibit usage of internet-enabled devices “on school grounds during the school day.”
- Be legally compliant, including with special education and health laws that may require use of these devices as an accommodation.
- Address usage during an emergency.
- Cover device storage options.
- Include guidance on network-based restrictions on access to social media.
- Discuss procedures on communicating board policy.
Moreover, the guidelines include that devices can be used during otherwise-prohibited times if a principal, superintendent or designee authorizes it, which can only occur when “no reasonable alternative exists to achieve the same objective while maintaining compliance with the guidelines.” Additionally, exceptions are made when device use is needed for:
- Prescribed care by a health care professional where documentation has been submitted by a parent/guardian
- Translation services
- A case-by-case basis, and under specified conditions, for a student who is a routine caregiver for a family member.
Devices are permitted where they may be required by other laws, for example, special education laws. The guidelines allow a principal, superintendent or designee to make a reasonable accommodation to use these devices for educational purposes.
NJEA lobbied in favor of the law and successfully requested changes prior to its passage so that (1) NJEA and other education stakeholders would help develop the guidelines and (2) the state didn’t impose one-size-fits-all guidelines on all boards of education. Members with questions about the law and related issues should contact their NJEA field representative for assistance.
Katrina Homel is an associate director of NJEA Legal Services and Member Rights in the NJEA Executive Office. She can be reached at khomel@njea.org.