New Jersey School Cell Phone Law (S3695): What It Requires

Yes. New Jersey has a statewide law on student phones in school. New Jersey requires every school board, charters included, to bar non-academic phone use on school grounds all school day from 2026–27 (P.L.2025, c.195). Policies follow NJDOE guidelines and also cover school buses and events.

What S3695 requires

• • Each board of education, including charter and renaissance school boards, adopts a policy on student use of internet-enabled devices during school hours, on school buses and at school-sanctioned events.
• • The policy must be consistent with the Commissioner’s guidelines, which prohibit non-academic use on school grounds during the school day and are age-appropriate and differentiated by grade.
• • The policy must address device use in an emergency or in response to a perceived threat of danger.
• • Guidelines must allow use for an administrator-approved necessary purpose, prescribed health care, translation services, student caregivers (case by case) and where required by law, and must honor IEPs, Section 504 plans and student health plans.
• • Guidelines list storage options, including locked pouches and lockers, and guidance on network restrictions for social media.

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

The key provision, verbatim

“prohibit non-academic use of an internet-enabled device on school grounds during the school day”

Source: P.L.2025, c.195, § 2(b)(2) (N.J.S.A. 18A:36-40b)

Timeline

1. January 2026NJDOE publishes revised guidance on student use of internet-enabled devices
2. January 8, 2026S3695 signed by Gov. Phil Murphy (P.L.2025, c.195)
3. September 2026Board policies apply for the 2026–27 school year

Where phones must be kept

The law has NJDOE list storage options a board may use, including locked pouches and lockers; the choice is the board’s.

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 S3695 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 New Jersey administrators

1. Confirm the board policy is in force for 2026–27 and aligned with NJDOE’s January 2026 guidance.
2. Extend the policy to school buses and school-sanctioned events.
3. Write an emergency-use procedure; the law requires the policy to address emergencies.
4. Set up approval paths for health care, translation and caregiver exceptions.
5. Choose a storage approach from the options NJDOE lists, and tell families how the policy works.

State funding in New Jersey

New Jersey Phone-Free Schools Grant (New Jersey Department of Education): Round 1: $3 million appropriated (FY2026); about $980,000 awarded to 86 districts and charter schools, from $1,000 to $176,625 each, based on grade 6–12 enrollment. Eligible: NJ school districts and charter schools serving grades 6–12. Awaiting announcement. NJDOE said on Dec. 18, 2025 that it intends to run another round. Round 1’s program period ended June 30, 2026, and no Round 2 has been posted. Official source.