This is the WFHB Local News for Monday, July 20th, 2026.

In today’s newscast, Facebook has permanently suspended the Bloomingtonian’s page, saying the independent local news outlet violated its policies on “inauthentic behavior.” Founder Jeremy Hogan says the company has not identified what prompted the action and has denied the publication’s appeal. More from Jeremy Hogan in today’s featured interview.

You’ll also hear Randy Rogers from United Way of South Central Indiana – the non-profit that helps other non-profits. Find out how you can support many good causes by supporting United Way later in the show on a new episode of Activate!

New Indiana law restricts student cellphone use during the school day

By Zoe Moczek

K-12 students in Indiana will no longer be able to access their cell phones during the school day under state law.

Senate Enrolled Act 78 went into effect on July 1st. This law prohibits students from using personal wireless communication devices, like cellphones, laptops, or smartwatches, from the time their first class begins to the time their final class ends.

Under the law, school corporations in Indiana must choose one of two options. They can either adopt a policy that prohibits students from bringing wireless communication devices to school at all, or they can adopt a policy that allows students to bring these devices, but requires that the devices are powered off, inaccessible to students, and placed in a designated storage area during school time.

Governor Mike Braun, who signed this bill into law back in May, said he expects it to improve student learning through reducing distractions in the classroom.

“This law strengthens Indiana schools’ cell phone policies so students can focus, teachers can teach, and classrooms can function as they should,” said Braun. “Cell phones, smart watches, gaming devices, and other personal devices have become major sources of distraction during the school day. The constant distraction affects learning, behavior, attention, and mental health.”

In order to comply with state law, the Monroe County Community School Corporation updated Policy 5136 regarding wireless communication devices. The MCCSC Board of Trustees discussed the updated policy in a meeting on June 23rd, passing it with a 5-1 vote.

During the meeting, MCCSC assistant superintendent of curriculum, instruction, and assessment Alexis Harmon explained that Monroe County schools will not ban students from bringing devices to school. Instead, the policy will mandate that devices are turned off and kept in a storage location throughout the day.

“We have gathered feedback in a variety of ways, but in particular a survey that was sent out to all family, staff, and students. We had 424 responses. 82% of them preferred the storage approach, the second option,” said Harmon.

Harmon explained that students will still be able to use their devices outside of instructional hours, and that there will be exceptions when students require devices as part of a learning accommodation or for medical use.

“Students can use devices before and after school, after school activities and extracurriculars”, said Harmon. “They can still have devices on buses. They can use them for medical use when it’s documented by a provider. They can have them as needed based upon an IEP, ILP, or 504 plan accommodations. They are allowed to be used during emergencies when authorized by administration, and they can still use school-issued devices for instruction that are connected to the internet.”

One board member, April Hennessy, said she acknowledges that cell phones can cause problems in classrooms, but she worries about the possibility of inconsistent disciplinary action for students who violate this policy.

“I really do not like this as a policy. I think that this is an overreach of the state, to sort of mandate how we determine when and where devices get used in our buildings,” said Hennessy. “I think different schools will likely have different storage places, different storage policies, different storage locations. And that will inevitably lead to different kinds of access. And then potentially greater or less disciplinary action around those phones.”

Hennessy also mentioned that enforcing the new policy will demand increased time, effort, and coordination from teachers and administrators. She expressed frustration that MCCSC schools will have to expend so much over a policy that is “fairly meaningless”.

“Of all the things that we have going on in the state, this is the thing that they sort of chose to take a stand on…but there’s no more dollars or resources for how we manage this in each of our 23 schools, right?,” said Hennessy. “It’s like another thing that needs to be folded in and encompassed by the ever-shrinking dollars that we’re given.”

During public comment, Susan Ellenwood, a community member and parent of MCCSC students, expressed concern that this policy could make it more difficult for parents to communicate with their children during an emergency.

“As parents, we find it crucial to be able to contact our children in the event of an emergency,” said Allenwood. “We get a lot of these texts. Some of them are false alarms. Some of them are drills. At any rate, the first thing any of us do is contact our kids, check in, make sure they’re okay. And I would like to be able to continue doing that.”

MCCSC schools will operate under the new phone policy when students return for the start of the 2026-2027 school year on Wednesday, August 5th.

Featured Segments:

Facebook has permanently suspended the Bloomingtonian’s page after alleging the local news outlet engaged in “inauthentic behavior.” In today’s featured interview, WFHB News Director Kade Young speaks with Bloomingtonian founder Jeremy Hogan about the suspension, its impact and what’s next for the online publication. That’s coming up next on the WFHB Local News.

Update: After this story was published, Meta restored The Bloomingtonian’s Facebook page following an appeal. Jeremy Hogan shared an email from Facebook stating the page had been republished and was publicly viewable again. However, the page still appears to have restricted monetization. Hogan says he also appears to have lost his Facebook subscribers. WFHB News will continue following this story and have more information in upcoming broadcasts.

United Way of South Central Indiana is the non-profit that helps other non-profits. All United Way agencies receive vital support from this umbrella organization, which also provides direct-to-the-public services like their popular annual tax preparation program. Local businesses conduct fundraising campaigns to support United Way, but individual support through donations and volunteer time is also welcome and critical. Executive Director Randy Roger shares ways you can support many good causes by supporting United Way on a new episode of Activate!, coming your way right now on the WFHB Local News.

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