Rhode Island phone-free school law (2026): Rhode Island prohibits student physical access to personal electronic devices throughout the school day, taking effect for the 2026–27 school year. Here's what administrators need to know about compliance, scope, and enforcement.
Rhode Island has a statewide bell-to-bell phone-free school law in effect. Under SB 771 (2025) — signed by Gov. Dan McKee 2025-06-23 — every public school in Rhode Island must keep student personal devices off and out of reach for the entire school day. Effective 2026–27 school year, Rhode Island now joins the growing majority of U.S. states with a statutory ban on classroom phone use.
What Rhode Island's Phone-Free School Law Requires
- • Statute: SB 771, signed June 23, 2025
- • Scope: bell-to-bell prohibition on access
- • Storage: required during the school day
- • School day defined per RIDE
- • Effective: 2026–27 school year
How Rhode Island Schools Comply
Rhode Island'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 Rhode Island schools choose LockedIn
LockedIn is a software-based phone-free campus solution built for Rhode Island's schools. It provides
OS-level device locking,
campus geofencing, real-time monitoring, and automated compliance reports — exactly what Rhode Island 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 Rhode Island
Read the primary source — SB 771 (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
Rhode Island 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.