PARK FALLS, Wis. (WJFW) — On October 31, Wisconsin became the 36th state to have a law requiring districts to prohibit phone use during instructional time at schools.

Chequamegon School District has always had a cell phone policy, with the most recent update being last year. As Governor Evers signed a bill requiring districts to have a policy that bans cell phones during instructional time, Chequamegon District Administrator Kyle Cronan explained that the district will have to check its policy.

Cronan said, “We do have a policy in place right now. We’re going to have to go back and take a look at our policy to make sure it complies with the law. But for the most part students at least elementary through middle school are not allowed to have their phones on them during the day.”

In the Chequamegon School District’s policy, high school students can have their phones on them during the day as many have a work study or job. An exception to the rule includes students in need of their phone for medical reasons.

“Ultimately it makes a lot of sense,” Cronan said. “I’ve been in education for a long time and as cell phones have really permeated our students’ lives, they’ve also really distracted our students during the day. Whether it’s playing games, or working on memes, or just doing things that aren’t really part of being in the classroom and doing what they need to do for school to be successful.”

Cronan explained that when the policy was first implemented, students pushed back, but ultimately it’s helped the school and students.

“We’ve had less issues over time now, with cell phones being a problem in class, we have fewer students trying to bring them into class,” he said. “We are also seeing some better behaviors in the sense of students not harassing one another, through their cell phone, through the social media during the school day.”

With the new law, educators and public school districts are backed at a higher level when it comes to setting cell phone policies.

“Most districts across the state had already been moving down this direction, so this just really backs this up from a state level and provides, provides some more publicity about the fact that cell phones are a major distraction for our students,” Cronan said.

Under the bill, public schools in Wisconsin will be required to adopt a policy banning cellphones during class time by July first.