KEENE, N.H. (MyKeeneNow) – Students in SAU 29 return to the classroom this week with new rules regarding cellphones at Keene High School.

A statewide cell phone ban was signed into law by Gov. Kelly Ayotte as part of the state budget. It requires all public school districts and charter schools to adopt policies prohibiting the use of personal electronic devices—from cellphones to smart watches—during the school day, from the first bell to dismissal. Exceptions are allowed for medical conditions, disabilities and language support needs.

In SAU 29, Superintendent Robb Malay says that all elementary schools in the SAU and Keene Middle School already had rules prohibiting the use of cell phones during the school day. At Keene High, students have been allowed to use cell phones in the classroom as a resource with teacher permission, during passing time, and during lunch.

On WKBK Friday morning, Malay said that the SAU is putting the responsibility on the students to follow the new rules.

“We’re not telling you to put it in a bag and we’re going to lock it up or throw it in a safe or anything like that. Keep it away, keep it turned off, don’t have the urge to go and pick it up, if you do pick it up then we’re going to call you on it,” Malay said.

For the first violation, Malay says staff will work with students and have them meet with a counselor and go through a restorative practice to understand cell phone addiction. Second offenses will result in the device being confiscated, and students will have to pick it up at the end of the day, and a third offense may result in the devices needing to be checked in at the beginning of the school day and checked out at the end of the day. Parents will be notified as the violations occur.

“We want them to be responsible, we’re going to teach them to be responsible, we’re going to work with students so that they learn to become responsible,” Malay said. “It’ll be a bit of a struggle on the early set but realistically speaking this is going to be more of an impact for our incoming sophomores, juniors, and seniors because it’s different for them than it is for everybody else. Everybody else it has always been no cell phones.”

Malay says it will be a challenge, but consistent enforcement is the key to successfully sticking to the new law.

“It’s when we turn a blind eye and say, ‘okay you know what, I’m not going to say anything about it’, or if we say, ‘hey look you know what, we’ve got a little bit of spare time if you want to get your phones out’, you know and make exceptions, that’s where it will become much more challenging, and I think most of our folks understand that,” Malay said. “Inconsistency will send mixed messages … and that’s where we’ll get into a lot more trouble.”

The law was written specifically for students and Malay said that the SAU did not take a stance on cell phone use for teachers, as they use cell phones to communicate urgent messages with teachers.

Malay said that the high school was already moving toward banning cell phones and other similar technology in school, and the legislation pushed that forward.

NEA-New Hampshire, the state’s largest teacher’s union, supported the measure and said the policy is based on the lived experience of teachers who have seen devices interfere with learning.

“Everyone who has been inside a school in the last decade has seen how cellphones contribute to misbehavior and shortened attention span,” Union President Megan Tuttle said in a statement. “I know that when teachers are left to enforce cellphone usage on an individual classroom-to-classroom basis, it disrupts your ability to lead instruction. That’s why we advocated for this policy at the state level – to ensure uniformity across districts and across the state that don’t force educators into the role of cellphone police.”

In the Monadnock Regional School District phones and other devices will be banned all day—including lunch and passing periods—with secure lockboxes available, or students must keep devices off in backpacks or lockers. The Hinsdale School District’s student handbook bans devices during the school day and urges students to leave them at home.