Royal Center students face bell-to-bell device rules for 2026-27

Royal Center-area families should expect school cellphone rules to change as Indiana’s new bell-to-bell device law takes effect for the 2026-27 school year.

Royal Center is a town in Cass County served by Pioneer Regional School Corporation. Senate Enrolled Act 78 took effect July 1, 2026, and requires Indiana public schools to restrict student use of cellphones and other personal wireless communication devices during the full school day, with limited exceptions.

What the state law requires

The requirement applies across the school day, not only while a teacher is conducting classroom instruction. The Indiana School Safety Specialist Board’s April 28 meeting minutes describe Senate Enrolled Act 78 as requiring schools to restrict cellphones and other personal wireless communication devices during the school day.

Exceptions include documented medical needs and requirements connected to an individualized education program or another education plan. State implementation guidance also leaves schools to establish practical compliance details, such as whether devices will be kept out of use, placed in secure storage, or handled through another approved method.

The law does not eliminate every possible use of a device. It does mean students and families should not assume that phones can remain available for ordinary communication during lunch, passing periods, or other parts of the school day.

What Pioneer’s posted policy currently says

Pioneer’s publicly posted Personal Communication Devices Policy was approved June 11, 2024, and published July 18, 2024. It generally requires personal devices to be powered off and stored out of sight in a student’s locker unless an exception applies.

Under that posted policy, students in grades 9-12 may use personal communication devices before and after school, during lunch, and between classes when the use is not disruptive or inconsistent with the educational environment.

The policy also identifies exceptions involving teachers, administrators, nurses, medical needs, and individualized education programs or case conference committees. It provides for progressive discipline, beginning with confiscation and parent contact and escalating for repeated violations.

What families should watch for

The statewide bell-to-bell requirement may require Pioneer to revise the high-school lunch and passing-period allowances in its 2024 policy. The available documents do not establish the district’s final 2026-27 procedures for storage, enforcement, emergency communication, or updated exceptions.

Parents and guardians should watch for official guidance from Pioneer Regional School Corporation before the school year begins. Pioneer’s current policy advises families to contact the school office when they need to reach a student during the school day, rather than relying on the student’s personal device. Students may use school phones to contact parents or guardians under the policy’s stated procedures.

For students with documented medical or education-plan needs, families should confirm the required process with the school before classes start. The key unanswered local questions are how Pioneer will handle devices at the start of the day, what storage method it will use, how violations will be handled under the new law, and how approved exceptions will be documented.

Sources

• Pioneer Regional School Corporation Personal Communication Devices Policy
• Indiana School Safety Specialist Board meeting minutes, April 28, 2026
• Indiana Capital Chronicle: Indiana schools face stricter cellphone rules