A new law in New Jersey will limit students' use of cellphones during the school day, adding the Garden State to a growing list of states that ban phones in the classroom.

Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, who will be succeeded by Democrat Mikie Sherrill later this month, signed legislation Thursday at Ramsey High School in Bergen County. 

The law requires the state education commission and local school boards to come up with guidelines for the use of cellphones in schools for grades K-12. The new law specifically requires the prohibition of non-academic uses of internet-connected devices — including phones — during the school day.

Murphy had called for a ban on phones in schools in his State of the State address last year.  

"We're going to rid our classrooms of needless distractions, " Murphy said, "and encourage our children to be more attentive, engaged during the school day."

The prohibition is set to go into effect with the 2026-2027 school year.

Including New Jersey, 37 states and the District of Columbia now have laws or rules limiting phones and other electronic devices in school, although some won't take effect until later.

Phones are banned throughout the school day in 19 of the states and the District of Columbia, although Georgia and Florida impose such "bell-to-bell" bans only from kindergarten through eighth grade.

There are seven states with some kind of guidance recommending local policy that's not a law, including Connecticut, Idaho, Kansas, Maryland, Montana, South Dakota, Washington, and six states with no statewide law or guidance — Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, and Wyoming.

Several New Jersey school districts already had their own policies on students' use of cellphones. Those rules ranged from outright bans to requirements that the phones be stored away from the student in something called a "cellphone hotel."

Massimo Randazzo, a student at Ramsey, said the school had begun requiring students to store cellphones in pouches a year ago. Initially frustrated, students then noticed a positive change, he said.

"Instead of everyone rushing between classes, staring at screens, students actually started talking to one another. The space felt more social and more present," he said.