Chicago Public Schools phone policy under Illinois law, serving ~323,000 students in Chicago. Illinois revived a Pritzker-backed cellphone bill (SB 2427) in April 2026 covering phones, tablets, smartwatches, and gaming devices; the Senate previously passed a version unanimously. Enforcement models,
Chicago Public Schools, the largest school district in Illinois and the fourth-largest in the nation, is a public school district headquartered in Chicago, Illinois (Cook County), serving approximately 323,000 students across the Chicago area. Like every district in Illinois, its cell phone rules are shaped by state law — and by how well the policy is actually enforced on each campus.
Does CPS ban cell phones?
Not yet statewide — but SB 2427 (2026, House-passed in April) is moving through the Illinois legislature and would require it. In the meantime the district sets its own policy, and most districts its size already restrict phones.
For the full statute, scope, effective date, and primary sources, see our guide to Illinois's phone-free school bill, part of our phone-free school laws by state directory.
Enforcing a phone-free day across Chicago
Districts that adopt enforcement before a statewide mandate lands avoid scrambling later — and help shape what compliance looks like in Illinois. At 323,000 students, CPS's scale is exactly where the enforcement method matters most: a policy that works in one classroom has to work across dozens of campuses at once.
Three enforcement models districts choose from
- • Physical pouches (e.g., Yondr): a per-student cost that recurs as pouches are lost or damaged, plus daily distribution and unlocking logistics multiplied by every campus — and little compliance data.
- • District storage (lockers, caddies, classroom bins): low hardware cost, but it relies on staff to police compliance period after period.
- • Device-level software (LockedIn): OS-level locking, campus geofencing, and automated reporting — deployed identically to every school in the district with no daily logistics.
LockedIn is a software-based phone-free campus solution built for districts like CPS. It locks student phones at the operating-system level on the devices students already carry, ties enforcement to school hours and campus geofences, and gives administrators a live dashboard plus automated compliance reports — exactly what a Illinois district needs to show enforcement is real. There's no hardware to ship, lose, or replace across Chicago. Compare the options in our phone-free campus solution comparison or the LockedIn vs. Yondr breakdown, and model the math with our pouch-vs-software cost calculator.
What CPS schools can do next
Any Chicago-area school can go phone-free in under a day with LockedIn. Draft a compliant policy with our free phone-free school policy generator, then contact our team for a district quote. Title I schools in Illinois may also qualify for subsidized access.
Explore other Illinois school districts or browse phone-free school coverage by district.