Students at Lake Forest and Lake Bluff public schools will have to stow their cellphones for the entire school day starting in fall 2027, after Gov. JB Pritzker signed a statewide "bell-to-bell" ban into law on Tuesday, July 28.

The new law, Senate Bill 2427, affects all three local districts: Lake Forest School District 67, Lake Bluff Elementary School District 65, and Lake Forest Community High School District 115. District 115 alone serves approximately 1,400 students from the Lake Forest, Lake Bluff, and Knollwood communities.

What the law requires

For students in kindergarten through eighth grade, the ban covers the full school day, including lunch, passing periods, and all non-instructional time. Students must store phones in pouches, lockers, or another method chosen by the district.

High schools must also implement a bell-to-bell policy, but individual districts may allow students to use phones during passing periods or lunch while still prohibiting use during class time.

The law covers all personal wireless devices: cellphones, laptops, tablets, gaming devices, and smartwatches. School-issued devices used for educational purposes are exempt.

Exceptions built in

Mandatory exceptions protect students with medical needs, Individualized Education Plans or 504 plans, English language learners who need devices to access materials, and students who serve as primary caregivers for a family member. Schools may also permit phone use during emergencies.

No fines. No suspensions. The law explicitly bars enforcement through fees, expulsions, or the involvement of school resource officers or local police.

District 115's existing policy

Lake Forest High School has operated under its own cellphone policy for several years, requiring devices to be powered off or out of sight during the school day, with exceptions for teacher permission, IEP accommodations, lunch, and emergencies.

"We're showing a very unified front about how we're supporting cellphone usage," Superintendent Matthew Montgomery, who leads both District 115 and District 67, said in a September 2023 Education Week article about how district leaders manage phone policies. "As I'm going to meetings throughout the district, I'm hearing from parents, 'Thank you for the cellphone guidelines.'"

Because District 115 already has a policy in place, it may qualify for a grandfathering provision that allows it to maintain its current approach through the 2030-31 school year. Under the law, grandfathered districts must update their policies to align with SB 2427 by the start of the 2031-32 academic year.

Timeline and costs

According to the governor's press release, the Illinois State Board of Education will share a template policy for districts on September 1, 2026. All schools must have finalized policies in place by the start of the 2027-28 school year.

The law does not specify what phone storage must look like. Options range from Yondr-style magnetic-locking pouches, which cost roughly $20 to $25 each, to lower-tech solutions like lockers. For scale, the Chicago Tribune reported that Elgin-based School District U-46 spent more than $170,000 on 6,625 locking pouches last year.

Districts must also review their policies at least once every three years, consulting teachers unions, administrators, parents, and community members in the process, according to Capitol News Illinois.

What's still unknown locally

Neither District 67 nor District 65 has publicly announced how it plans to comply with the new law. It is not confirmed whether either district has an existing cellphone policy that would qualify for grandfathering. Lisa Leali, superintendent of Lake Bluff SD 65, and Montgomery have not issued public statements about SB 2427.

Private schools in Lake Forest and Lake Bluff are not covered by the law.

The ISBE template policy arrives September 1. Local families can expect to hear more from their districts as the 2027-28 implementation deadline approaches.