New Paltz to discuss cell phone ban in schools

The New Paltz Central School Board will hold a community forum on February 5, 2025 to discuss a cell phone ban in the high school. The forum will take place on Wednesday, February 5, 2025 from 5:30 to 6:30pm at the New Paltz Middle School Auditorium. The regular bi-monthly school board meeting will follow the community forum. A livestream of the forum will be available the day of the meeting on the New Paltz BOE website.

Over the last few months, all New Paltz Central School District parents, students in grades 8-12, and faculty and staff members in the high school, were asked to complete a survey on the potential smartphone ban.

Out of 420 responses, 97.6-percent of students in grades 8-12 said they don’t feel that cell phones should be banned in the high school.

65.3-percent of their parents though, said phones should be banned in the high school just as it is in the middle school.

52 faculty and staff members responded to the survey with 75-percent favoring the ban, and 25-percent against the cell phone ban.

Statewide proposal to restrict smartphone use in schools

The forum in New Paltz comes less than two weeks after New York State Governor Kathy Hochul introduced a legislative proposal in the 2025 NYS budget to restrict smartphone use in K-12 schools statewide.

“Our young people succeed when they’re learning and growing, not clicking and scrolling,” Governor Hochul said.

The legislative proposal to create a statewide standard for distraction-free schools halts “unsanctioned use of smartphones and other internet-enabled personal devices on school grounds in K-12 schools for the entire school day,” allows schools to develop their own cellphone storage plans, proposes $13million in funding for schools that need help with storage solutions, and “requires schools to give parents a way to contact their kids during the day if needed.”

Under the state proposal, students would still be authorized to have access to “simple cell phones” without internet capability, as well as internet-enabled devices officially provided by their school for classroom instruction, such as laptops or tablets used as part of lesson plans. Exemptions to these restrictions include students who use internet-enabled devices to manage medical conditions, “where required by a student's Individualized Education Program (IEP), or for other academic purposes, such as translation.”

If approved by the legislature, the new state requirement would be in place starting in the 2025-26 school year and would apply to all schools in New York State public school districts, as well as charter schools and Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES).

Source: https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-hochul-unveils-plan-restrict-smartphone-use-schools-statewide-and-ensure-distraction