After the first week of the 2025-26 school year, Norman Public Schools said students have embraced the bell-to-bell phone ban with few infractions.
The NPS Board of Education passed the ban in June as a result of Senate Bill 139, which required all Oklahoma school districts to adopt policies prohibiting student use of phones on campus. The NPS policy prohibits the use of phones and other personal electronic devices from bell-to-bell, which includes lunch and passing periods.
NPS Superintendent Nick Migliorino said that despite the district’s initial uncertainty surrounding the implementation of the policy, schools have been doing well.
“There’s so many new things that we were implementing here in Norman, but it has been incredible," Migliorino said. “I couldn’t be more pleased.”
First impressions
Norman High School Principal Hallie Wright said the school had experienced very few infractions of the policy, and none on the first day.
“It’s been a great start at Norman High,” Wright said. “Both teachers, staff and students are adapting quickly to all the changes, and the focus is right where it should be, which is on safety and student success.”
Violations of the policy are subject to disciplinary action, with a secondary level violation resulting in the student being issued a personal electronic storage pouch for their device to be stored for the remainder of the school day. Migliorino said only two pouches have been used in the entire school district so far.
“And one of those (pouches) actually was a student just wanting to try it out,” Migliorino said.
Benjamin Liesenfeld, Norman High senior, said he has enjoyed the first phone-free days of school. Though Liesenfeld believes the change is good, he noted the adjustments that students have to go through.
“It’s been a difficult start. I know over the summer, we were all pretty worried about what was gonna happen and how it was gonna look,” Liesenfeld said. “Now that we’re (done with the first week), we’ve kind of adapted to it and welcomed it.”
Liesenfeld told OU Daily that a few digitally-driven aspects had to shift following the ban.
“I relied on my phone for my schedule for the past three years,” Liesenfeld said. “This year has been a little different.”
Liesenfeld, who also serves as Norman High’s student council technology chair, also noted changes in communication for student activities.
“We are communicating before and after school about things that are happening, being proactive and sending those messages beforehand — just making sure that people are on top of it,” Liesenfeld said. “We know that we’re not going to be able to share that during the school year if we’re not seeing them in person.”
Enforcement, hopes for the future
Migliorino believes consistency is the most important part of the policy’s enforcement.
“(Teachers) matter of factly say ‘we need you to put that away’,” Migliorino said. “It’s the systems that are in place and the biggest piece is consistency from classroom to classroom, school to school.”
As students have been adjusting to the policy, Liesenfeld said teachers have been understanding.
“(The teachers) know that it’s going to be difficult,” Liesenfeld said. “This is a learning experience for them, so we’re all working together.”
Because the policy prohibits all personal devices that can connect to phones or WiFi, teachers also enforce the ban on other devices such as smart watches. Migliorino said many students have still been wearing smart watches, but teachers make sure the devices are turned off.
“That creates a unique challenge, but if we really wanna stay true to the intent of the policy, we have to do it,” Migliorino said. “Is it perfect? No. It’s really about use. Are kiddos gonna walk in with a smart watch or something on? Yes, they are. The art and what we’re trying to do is make sure we address those.”
Wright and Migliorino said there has been a noticeable shift in student interactions with peers and teachers.
“You can feel the positive shift in the hallways,” Wright said. “We’re making a lot more eye contact with kids. We’re having a lot of conversations with kids. And they’re talking to each other.”
Migliorino said he expects students to take time to get used to the policy, but he hopes it will improve student and teacher interactions.
“We know because devices are so much a part of what we do that we’re gonna have to continue to redirect. We’re gonna have to continue to educate,” Migliorino said. “My hope is that we’re able to create deeper relationships, whether it’s student to teacher or student to student.”
This story was edited by Ana Barboza.
