Maryland School Cell Phone Law (HB 525 / Ch. 596): What It Requires

Yes. Maryland has a statewide law on student phones in school. Maryland's Phone-Free Schools Act requires every county board to ban student device use from first bell to dismissal by the 2027–28 school year. Students must store devices in a manner the county board sets. The enacted chapter struck the emergency-use exception before passage.

What HB 525 / Ch. 596 requires

• • Each county board must develop and implement, no later than the 2027–28 school year, a policy that prohibits student device use during the academic school day
• • The policy must require students to store their devices during the academic school day, secured in a manner the county board determines
• • The policy must prohibit students from accessing or using social media platforms during the academic school day
• • The policy must require administrator approval to use a personal device for educational purposes when a school-issued device is unavailable
• • The policy may not bar use for disability accommodations (including IEP or 504 plans), documented health issues, translation tools when school devices fall short, or principal-approved caregiving
• • The enacted chapter has no emergency exception. Language that would have permitted use "during an emergency event, if expressly authorized by an administrator" was struck before passage
• • Discipline must be tiered and administrator-enforced, with no suspension or expulsion solely for a violation
• • Boards must engage stakeholders, publish the policy in multiple languages, and report to MSDE

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

The key provision, verbatim

“Require a student to store the student's electronic communication device during the academic school day … "Store" means to secure in a manner determined by the county board.”

Source: Md. Code, Educ. § 7-137(d)(2), (a)(5) (Ch. 596 of 2026)

Timeline

1. May 26, 2026Gov. Wes Moore approves HB 525 (Chapter 596)
2. July 1, 2026Education Article § 7-137 takes effect
3. September 1, 2027County boards submit a copy and description of their policy to MSDE
4. July 30, 2028First annual county report on enforcement, discipline and exemption data (each July 30 through 2033)
5. December 1, 2028MSDE publishes a report compiling the county policies

Where phones must be kept

§ 7-137 requires students to store devices during the academic school day and defines "store" as "to secure in a manner determined by the county board"; wording that would have required devices to be kept off the student's person was struck before passage.

Because Maryland's law requires students to store devices during the school day, secured in a manner each county board determines, software on a student's phone does not by itself meet the storage requirement. App-based locking, including LockedIn, can add to the storage the law calls for, not replace it.

Checklist for Maryland administrators

1. Draft a policy that prohibits device use from first bell to dismissal and requires storage; implement it no later than 2027–28
2. Decide and document how devices will be secured (the county board sets the storage method)
3. Engage parents, students, educators and community members, including on enforcement, and keep records of that engagement
4. Build tiered, administrator-enforced discipline with no suspension or expulsion solely for a violation
5. Publish the policy in multiple languages in handbooks, on school and board websites, and at school events
6. Prepare the Sept 1, 2027 MSDE submission and start tracking referrals by student group and exemptions for the July 30, 2028 report

How Maryland districts are carrying it out

The law sets the floor; each district writes its own policy on top of it. Here is what large Maryland districts have adopted, from their own published policies:

• • Montgomery County Public Schools: From 2026–27, every student keeps personal devices put away and unused from the first bell through dismissal, including lunch, recess and passing periods.
• • Prince George's County Public Schools: No districtwide all-day ban in 2026–27: phones stay off or silent and out of sight whenever use isn’t allowed, and principals may permit use at times such as lunch.
• • Baltimore County Public Schools: Students may bring phones but not use them until the end of the instructional day; high schoolers may use them at lunch.