Holladay students head back to Skyline High School on Wednesday, Aug. 12, and a new statewide cellphone ban will greet them at the door.
The school published its first newsletter of the 2026-27 year on Friday, Aug. 7, pointing families to behavior plans, lunch menus, safety procedures and counseling contacts. But the biggest change students will notice is what they can't do: use their phones during class.
Phones off, eyes up
Utah's bell-to-bell cellphone ban, signed into law during the 2026 General Session, takes full effect when school starts. At Skyline and other Granite District high schools, devices must be off or on silent and out of sight during classroom hours unless a teacher allows use for a specific lesson. Students can still use phones before school, at lunch and between classes as long as use isn't disruptive.
Granite School District Board member Julie Jackson, who represents Holladay and Millcreek in Precinct 1, voiced support for the policy in a May 28 Holladay Journal interview: "We've had great success with taking cellphones out of our schools. The key is to create a successful environment of enforcement for the school staff. It's one thing to pass a law, it's another thing to enforce it."
The district piloted its own bell-to-bell ban at Granger High School before the state law passed. Luke Allen, Granite's associate director of communications, said in a February Holladay Journal report that the Granger pilot cut student fights on campus by 50% and produced the school's lowest failure rates in five years.
Lunch prices and free meals
As of last spring, the high school lunch price was $1.75 per day. A proposed increase is part of the district's tentative 2026-27 budget, but final approval hinges on a Truth-in-Taxation public hearing set for Tuesday, Aug. 18, at 6 p.m. The proposed tax increase totals approximately $21.7 million, about 11.2% above the certified rate, according to the June 2 board agenda.
No child is denied a meal regardless of balance. Granite provides universal free breakfast to roughly 80% of students, and families qualifying for reduced-price lunch have received meals at no charge for the past decade. Applications for free and reduced lunch are open year-round at paypams.com.
Safety and contacts
The newsletter links families to Skyline's school safety plan, the SafeUT crisis and tip line, and the district's emergency notification system covering hold, secure, lockdown, evacuate and shelter protocols. Families can report bullying, harassment or discrimination through the district's online form, and Title IX inquiries go to Karly Chavez, director of Educational Access & Opportunity, at (385) 646-5000.
Key Skyline contacts:
- Main office: (385) 646-5420
- Attendance: (385) 646-5433
- Counseling center: (385) 646-5421
- Career center: (385) 646-5423
