Which Kansas City districts met the September 1 phone-ban deadline?
Kansas HB 2299 gave every district until September 1, 2026 to adopt a bell-to-bell cell phone policy. 13 of 13 Kansas metro districts had an adopted policy we could point to.
Blue Valley: adopted: Student Code of Conduct prohibits use of or access to personal electronic communication devices (cell phones, smart watches, smart glasses, ear buds, headphones, personal laptops) during the school day on district property, except as expressly permitted. No single storage method (pouches/lockers/bins) confirmed.
Spring Hill: adopted: Personal electronic devices must be turned off and stored away from the student's person in an inaccessible location for the full school day. District's stated preference is that students leave devices at home or in a vehicle (district isn't responsible for loss/theft/damage). Parents may request alternative storage arrangements from administration.
Gardner Edgerton: adopted: Storage differs by level: elementary and middle school students store devices in their lockers during the day; high school students check devices into the office at the start of the day and retrieve them at day's end.
De Soto: adopted: Devices must be turned off and stored in an inaccessible location during the school day. District encourages leaving devices at home or locked in a vehicle; no specialized storage equipment (pouches/lockers) purchased, and office storage is used if needed.
Olathe: adopted: Board approved updates to Policy JTC (Personal Electronic Devices) at its 2026-08-06 meeting for HB 2299 compliance. Students are encouraged to leave devices at home; if brought, phones must be off and stored in a school-issued locker, a school-designated storage solution, or an area set by administration. PreK/elementary may store devices in backpacks; high schoolers may leave devices in vehicles on campus. The district purchased CUBE Phocus Station locked cabinets (40+ device capacity each) for every school, $40,700 total.
Shawnee Mission: adopted: Board Policy JCDC requires all student personal electronic devices powered off and stored in an inaccessible location (not on the student's person) bell-to-bell. District directs students to use a school-issued locker/cubby, or to leave devices at home or in a vehicle.
Kansas City, Kansas: adopted: Phones collected upon arrival and stored securely, returned at day's end. High school/middle school: phones stored in sealed containers; elementary: phones remain in backpacks. Students may alternatively leave devices at home or locked in a vehicle. District-issued devices (Chromebooks, etc.) are exempt from the ban.
Turner: adopted: Personal electronic devices are prohibited during the school day district-wide. Devices must be off and inaccessible; a student needing to contact a parent must get a teacher pass to the office. Any phone/device seen or in use is confiscated by staff and taken to the office.
Piper: adopted: Per a district family notice, personal devices (phones, smartwatches, tablets, computers, wireless earbuds/headphones, gaming devices) must be turned off and securely stored away from students in an inaccessible location during the school day; district-issued devices remain usable for instruction. No specific storage system (pouches/lockers/bins) named in accessible sources.
Bonner Springs: adopted: Bell to bell, all buildings: devices off and out of sight. Elementary (BSE, DRE, EDW): devices stay in backpacks, and backpacks are inaccessible to students all day. Secondary (Clark Middle, BSHS): off and out of sight, with the option to turn the device in each morning to a staff member in the commons.
Basehor-Linwood: adopted: Dedicated device lockers at the high school (tied to the 2024 bond building addition); devices must be powered off and completely inaccessible throughout the school day.
Lansing: adopted: No use of cell phones or personal electronic devices during the school day at any building. At Lansing Intermediate, Middle and High School, phones, earbuds and smart watches are locked in a family-purchased Yondr pouch ($30) from arrival until dismissal; students carry the pouch to and from school.
Leavenworth: adopted: Handbook states personal electronic devices (cell phones, tablets, smartwatches, laptops, gaming devices, smart glasses, wireless earbuds) must be "silenced and stored away per primary and/or secondary campus procedures" from the start of school until the dismissal bell. The handbook doesn't specify pouches/lockers/bins. Building-level procedures appear to vary and aren't detailed publicly.