Cell Phone and Personal Electronic Device Policy

Section 40.7 of IC 20-26-5-40.7 of the Indiana Code, adopted to take effect July 1st, 2026, mandates a bell-to-bell ban on personal wireless devices during the school day. A personal wireless communication device is defined as any portable device capable of voice, messaging, or data communication, including but not limited to cellular phones, tablet computers, laptop computers, wireless earbuds, smartphones, smartwatches, and gaming devices. The Code requires students to either leave their devices at home or to put the devices away, powered off and inaccessible, for the entirety of the school day.

South Newton High School will allow students to use South Newton School

Corporation-assigned Chromebooks and Ipads for learning purposes. Students are permitted to use wireless communication devices to manage their healthcare needs with a doctor’s permission. Students with individualized education programs (IEPs) or plans developed under Section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. 794, shall not be prohibited from using wireless communication devices during instructional time if such use is included in their plans.

Teachers and school administration shall enforce this policy consistently and fairly using South Newton High School’s discipline procedures.

• Students will be issued a personal storage bag. The expectation is that students will either leave their devices at home or in their car, or power off their devices and store them in their school-issued bags in their locker if their devices are brought into the school. The bags will be locked during the school day to comply with the requirements of the Code. Students who do not bring their storage bags to school will deliver their devices to the office, and parents or guardians will be responsible for picking up the devices at the end of the day.
• If a student violates this policy, they will be subject to the following discipline procedures:
  • 1^st offense: The device will be confiscated. A parent or guardian will be required to pick up the device at the end of the day. The student will serve a Saturday School.
  • 2^nd offense: The device will be confiscated. A parent or guardian will be required to pick up the device at the end of the day. The student will serve a Saturday School. The student will be required to keep their devices in the office if they are brought to school in the future.
  • 3rd offense: The device will be confiscated. A parent or guardian will be required to pick up the device at the end of the day. The student will be suspended from school. The student will be required to keep their devices in the office if they are brought to school in the future.
• Consistent refusal to follow the policy will lead to the forfeiture of the student's ability to possess wireless communication devices at school, and students will be determined to be acting in an insubordinate manner, and thus subject to discipline. Students who willfully try to bypass the policy or destroy school property will be subject to appropriate discipline, including suspension and/or expulsion, and reimbursement for destroyed materials.
• Students will not be allowed to go to their car during the school day without being escorted by an administrator for an approved reason, including placement or retrieval of material.
• Students will be able to use the office phones for emergency reasons. The administration will determine what constitutes an emergency based on the information provided by students and/or parents. Messages from parents will be given to students at an opportune time if and when relevant or necessary.

• Students may not use any device to photograph or record the activities [audio or video] of other students or district personnel while on school property or a school-sponsored activity unless expressly authorized in advance by the building principal or designee and with the consent of the individual(s) being recorded. Students may not surreptitiously photograph or record anyone or distribute captured content that violates school policies and/or causes harm. Students who violate this expectation will face appropriate disciplinary consequences.

*** STUDENTS WHO CALL TO BE PICKED UP FROM SCHOOL WITHOUT FIRST GOING THROUGH THE MAIN OFFICE OR THE NURSE’S OFFICE WILL BE SUBJECT TO DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS.

Important Notice to Students and Parents Regarding Cell Phone Content and Display

1. The Child Abuse/Neglect Law requires school personnel to report to law enforcement or child protective services whenever there is reason to believe that any person/student is involved with “child exploitation” or “child pornography” as defined by Indiana Criminal Statutes.
2. It is “child exploitation,” a Class C felony under I.C. 35-42-4-4(b), for any person/student (1) to exhibit, photograph or create a digitized image of any incident that includes “sexual conduct” by a child under the age of 18; or (2) to disseminate, exhibit to another person, or offer to disseminate or exhibit, matter that depicts or describes “sexual conduct” by a child under the age of 18.
3. Students of any age enrolled at South Newton High School are not to transmit any form of child pornography or digitized image while on school ground or during extracurricular events.
4. It is “child pornography,” a Class D felony under I.C. 35-42-4-4(c), for any person/student to possess a photograph, motion picture, digitized image, or any pictorial representation that depicts or describes “sexual conduct” by a child who the person knows is less than 16 years of age or who appears less than age 16.
5. “Sexual conduct” is defined by I.C. 35-42-4-4(a) to include sexual intercourse, exhibition of the uncovered genitals intended to satisfy or arouse the sexual desires of any person, or any fondling or touching of a child by another person or of another person by a child intended to arouse or satisfy the sexual desires of the child or other person.
6. The Indiana Sex Offender Registration Statute at I.C. 11-8-8-7 and the Sex Offender Registry Offense Statute at I.C. 35-42-4-11, as of May 2009, require persons convicted of or adjudicated as a juvenile delinquent for violating the Child Exploitation Statue at I.C. 35-42-4-4(b) to register as a sex offender.
7. Because student cell phones have been found in a number of Indiana school districts to have contained evidence of “sexual conduct” as defined above, it is important for parents and students to be aware of the legal consequences should this occur in our school system.