South Carolina phone-free school law (2026): South Carolina's budget proviso conditions State Aid to Classrooms on districts adopting a bell-to-bell, SBE-approved phone ban. Here's what administrators need to know about compliance, scope, and enforcement.
South Carolina has a statewide bell-to-bell phone-free school law in effect. Under 2024–25 Appropriations Act, Proviso 1.103 + State Board Policy — signed by Gov. Henry McMaster 2024-07-03 — every public school in South Carolina must keep student personal devices off and out of reach for the entire school day. Effective 2024–25 school year, South Carolina now joins the growing majority of U.S. states with a statutory ban on classroom phone use.
What South Carolina's Phone-Free School Law Requires
- • Mechanism: 2024–25 Appropriations Act Proviso 1.103 + SBE policy
- • Effective: 2024–25 school year
- • Penalty: non-compliant districts risk loss of State Aid to Classrooms
- • SBE adopted statewide model policy
- • Now in second year of statewide compliance
How South Carolina Schools Comply
South Carolina'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 South Carolina schools choose LockedIn
LockedIn is a software-based phone-free campus solution built for South Carolina's schools. It provides
OS-level device locking,
campus geofencing, real-time monitoring, and automated compliance reports — exactly what South Carolina 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 South Carolina
Read the primary source — 2024–25 Appropriations Act, Proviso 1.103 + State Board Policy — 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
South Carolina 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.