Walk into a Kansas school this fall and your phone doesn’t come with you. Hand it over at the door, where it stays in secure storage until dismissal — not at lunch, not between classes, not at any point during the school day. That’s HB 2299, signed by Gov. Laura Kelly in March 2026 and effective for the 2026–27 school year, making Kansas the 33rd state to enact a K-12 cellphone ban. This one has teeth.
What the Law Actually Requires
HB 2299 reaches far beyond phones, locking down nearly every personal device a student might carry.
Broader than the name suggests, HB 2299 covers cellphones, tablets, smartwatches, wireless earbuds, PDAs, and text-messaging devices — basically everything in a teenager’s backpack except a pencil. All of it must be turned off and stored in an inaccessible location, away from students’ persons, bell to bell. No scrolling at lunch, no earbuds in the hallway, no quick check between classes. Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools outlined it plainly, according to KCTV5: phones collected at arrival, secured, returned at dismissal.
Here’s what the rules actually cover:
- Banned devices: cellphones, tablets, smartwatches, wireless headphones, PDAs, and text-messaging devices
- Exceptions: IEP/504 plans or physician-documented medical necessity only
- Students can leave devices at home or in a vehicle on campus to comply
- Schools must provide access to school-owned phones; personal devices are a last resort for parent contact
- School-issued Chromebooks and laptops are unaffected — districts can still require them for class
The Bill Nobody Budgeted For
The law drew bipartisan applause in the legislature and sent a separate, unwelcome bill straight to local districts.
At least one Kansas district is projecting $150,000 to $180,000 just to equip secondary students with individual phone lockers, according to the Wichita Eagle. The state provided zero dedicated funding. Every dollar comes from local budgets.
Districts choosing fabric locking pouches — think Yondr, the magnetic-lock system concert venues use to keep audiences present — face an estimated $30 per unit. Statewide, the Kansas Division of the Budget put that figure at roughly $13.4 million if every student received one, according to the Lawrence KS Times. Lockers require a steeper upfront investment. Neither option came with a state check attached.
Legislators passed the policy. The price tag was someone else’s problem.
For parents, the tradeoff is concrete: midday contact with your kid, replaced by school-owned phones and the possibility of genuinely quieter classrooms. Whether that math works depends on who you ask — and how much your district just spent on lockers. child safety advocates, meanwhile, continue to press for broader tech regulation that extends well beyond school hallways.
