North Dakota phone-free school law (2026): North Dakota requires personal electronic devices be silenced, locked away, and inaccessible throughout the school day. Here's what administrators need to know about compliance, scope, and enforcement.
North Dakota has a statewide bell-to-bell phone-free school law in effect. Under HB 1160 (2025) — signed by Gov. Kelly Armstrong 2025-04-25 — every public school in North Dakota must keep student personal devices off and out of reach for the entire school day. Effective 2025–26 school year, North Dakota now joins the growing majority of U.S. states with a statutory ban on classroom phone use.
What North Dakota's Phone-Free School Law Requires
- • Statute: HB 1160, signed April 25, 2025
- • Scope: bell-to-bell — silenced and stored during school day
- • Devices must be silenced and locked away
- • Limited statutory exceptions
- • Effective: 2025–26 school year
How North Dakota Schools Comply
North Dakota's bell-to-bell scope is the strictest model — phones must be inaccessible from the first bell to dismissal, including lunch, passing periods, and study halls. That makes enforcement and documented compliance the hard part, not the policy itself.
Three enforcement models
- • Physical pouches (e.g., Yondr): high per-student cost, daily distribution logistics, and limited compliance data.
- • District storage (lockers, cubbies, classroom caddies): lowest cost but relies on staff to police compliance.
- • Device-level software (LockedIn): OS-level locking, geofencing, and automated compliance reporting — no daily logistics.
Why North Dakota schools choose LockedIn
LockedIn is a software-based phone-free campus solution built for North Dakota's schools. It provides
OS-level device locking,
campus geofencing, real-time monitoring, and automated compliance reports — exactly what North Dakota administrators need to demonstrate that the policy is being enforced. Unlike physical pouches, there's no hardware to lose, replace, or distribute. See our full
comparison of phone-free campus solutions or the
LockedIn vs Yondr pouches guide.
Verify the law in North Dakota
Read the primary source — HB 1160 (2025) — and confirm the latest guidance with your state agency before adopting policy.
See our complete phone-free school laws by state directory for legislation updates across all 50 states + DC.
Get started
North Dakota schools can be phone-free in less than a day with LockedIn. Use our free phone-free school policy generator to draft a compliant policy, then contact our team to deploy district-wide.