Utah's bell-to-bell cellphone ban took effect July 1. Canyons School District families are starting the school year unsure what the stricter law means at Alta and Hillcrest high schools.

Senate Bill 69, signed by Gov. Spencer Cox in March, makes a full-day phone ban the default in every Utah public school. The law goes further than the 2025 ban under Senate Bill 178, which prohibited phones during class but still allowed them during passing periods and lunch.

Under SB69, phones are off-limits from the first bell to the last unless a district proactively opts out.

The law includes exceptions for health or safety emergencies, the SafeUT Crisis Line, and students with an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or Section 504 accommodation, according to the Standard-Examiner.

The district already bans phones at its elementary and junior high schools. At the high school level, the picture is murkier. A KSL survey of Utah districts published Aug. 20 reported that Canyons still allows phones in high schools, suggesting the district opted out of the stricter state default. No public board resolution or spokesperson statement confirming that decision has surfaced.

Alta High School's published policy bans personal technology during class time and while students are on a hall pass, but allows access between classes and at lunch. The policy covers phones, laptops, headphones, AirPods, smart watches, gaming devices and anything else that connects to the internet.

Violations follow a five-step ladder, starting with a verbal warning and escalating to device confiscation and potential loss of privileges.

Hillcrest High School's policy is similar. Teachers choose from approved storage options during instruction: a phone caddy, a brown bag on the desk or a student's backpack. Students can use devices during passing times and at lunch.

Both policies match the 2025 law's framework, not the stricter bell-to-bell standard. Whether either school updated its rules for 2026-2027 is unclear.

The district's own data underscores why the issue matters locally. A survey of 5,439 Canyons high school students, presented to the Board of Education on March 3, found that 96.2% use cellphones and 46.3% check them every 15 minutes. Nearly 59% said screen time interferes with sleep.

At a July event at Alta High, PTSA President Sandy Stock said the group surveyed about 400 students and found they spend two to four hours daily on social media. "We wanted to educate kids about how to be safe and have a positive presence while online," Stock told the Sandy Journal.

Early results from stricter policies elsewhere in Utah are encouraging. Ogden principals told KSL that fighting incidents dropped 45% and cyberbullying fell 65%. During the 2024-2025 school year, Granger High School in Granite School District saw its lowest student failure rates in five years and a 50% drop in campus fights under a bell-to-bell policy, according to the Draper Journal.

Sen. Lincoln Fillmore, R-South Jordan, who sponsored SB69, said the law sets a baseline but leaves room for local control. "They just have to do so proactively," Fillmore told the Deseret News.

The Utah House passed SB69 on a 46-21 vote. The Senate approved it unanimously, according to the Utah News Dispatch. High school parent-teacher conferences are scheduled for Sept. 22 and Sept. 23.