West Columbia, S.C. (WSPA) - On Thursday, state leaders focused on keeping kids safe at school. Governor Henry McMaster and Superintendent of the Department of Education, Ellen Weaver, spoke about the importance of safety in public schools. Weaver said that one of their biggest concerns is cell phones due to bullying, lack of discipline and students staging and filming fights. In January 2025, cell phones will not be allowed to be taken out by students during school hours. "We want our students to be free to focus on their academic instruction," Weaver said. "We want them to be free to focus on their friendships and building relationships face to face and person to person, not through the medium of a screen." Focusing in the classroom is an important step to eliminate internal safety issues and Governor McMaster said getting rid of distractions is very important to maintain students' focus. "There's plenty of distractions. If we can eliminate that concern about safety, that makes it stronger system makes it easier to learn," McMaster said. McMaster said learning is a key to success and Weaver has other plans beside the restriction of cell phones, to ensure a bright future for students. Weaver shared that over the last two cycles, the SCDE received $40 million from the General Assembly to help make schools physically safe and she plans to ask for $20 million more in 2025. "Really just kind of the basic blocking and tackling of school safety, to make sure that there are locks on classroom doors, to make sure that windows are covered with windows film," Weaver said. "We're incredibly grateful for the general assembly stepping up and answering the call on that, because again, we all know that if our students aren't safe, nothing else matters." McMaster and Weaver said that there are things that still need to be done to improve school safety in South Carolina, and they are making it a priority.