Kentucky School Cell Phone Law (HB 208): What It Requires

Yes. Kentucky has a statewide law on student phones in school. Kentucky requires every school district to adopt a policy that, at a minimum, bans student use of personal telecommunications devices during instructional time, and to filter social media on school technology. HB 208 was signed by Gov. Andy Beshear on March 26, 2025.

What HB 208 requires

• • Each district board must adopt a policy on student possession and use of personal telecommunications devices on school property and at school activities, and include it in the written standards of student conduct
• • The policy must, at a minimum, prohibit student use during instructional time, except in an emergency or when a teacher directs or authorizes use
• • Students who violate the policy are disciplined under board policy
• • Districts must use current filtering technology so social media and sexually explicit material are not available to students on school technology, unless a teacher authorizes social media for instruction

The emergency wording for every state, D.C. and Puerto Rico is in school phone ban emergency exceptions by state.

The key provision, verbatim

“The policy shall, at a minimum, prohibit a student's use of a personal telecommunications device during instructional time, except during an emergency, if directed to do so by a teacher for an instructional purpose, or if authorized by a teacher.”

Source: KRS 158.165(1)(b)

Timeline

1. March 26, 2025Gov. Andy Beshear signs HB 208 (2025 Ky. Acts ch. 90)

Where phones must be kept

KRS 158.165 requires a policy on possession and use and bans use during instructional time at a minimum; it does not say where devices must be kept.

Some schools back a written policy with phone-management software such as LockedIn: students' own phones lock automatically on campus during school hours and unlock after school, with no pouches or hardware; the admin dashboard flags workarounds by student name, such as a possible uninstall or a new device awaiting approval; and in an emergency, one tap from an administrator starts Emergency Mode on every phone on campus. Software does not replace the policy HB 208 requires, and it should be set up around the exceptions the law lists; have counsel review any tool that handles student device data.

Checklist for Kentucky administrators

1. Confirm the board policy bans student use during instructional time and appears in the written standards of student conduct
2. Write in the emergency and teacher-directed or teacher-authorized exceptions
3. Keep IDEA, ADA and Rehabilitation Act device uses outside the ban
4. Decide whether to extend the rules to lunch, passing periods or the full day
5. Check that school network filtering blocks social media unless a teacher authorizes it for instruction

How Kentucky districts are carrying it out

The law sets the floor; each district writes its own policy on top of it. Here is what one large Kentucky district has adopted, from its own published policy:

• • Jefferson County Public Schools: Bans student phone use for the whole school day, not just class time, under Board Policy 09.4261.