Distraction-Free Schools: Implementation Resources

New York State Distraction-Free Schools Law

• Overview

  Governor Hochul’s cellphone policy creates a model standard including:

  • No unsanctioned use of smartphones and other internet-enabled personal devices on school grounds in K-12 schools for the entire school day (from “bell to bell”), including classroom time and other settings like lunch and study hall periods.
  • Allowing schools to develop their own plans for storing internet-enabled devices during the day — giving administrators and teachers the flexibility to do what works best for their buildings and students.
  • Securing $13.5 million in funding to be made available for schools to aid in purchasing storage solutions to help them go distraction-free.
  • Requiring schools to give parents a way to contact their children during the day when necessary.
  • Requiring teachers, parents and students to be consulted in developing the local policy.
  • Requiring schools to annually publish a report detailing the enforcement of the policy they adopted, helping to prevent inequitable discipline.

  This legislation applies to school districts, charter schools, and boards of cooperative services (BOCES). Each educational organization should review existing policies and/or work to update their policies in accordance with the minimum standards established by law by August 1st, 2025.

• Definitions

  Internet-enabled devices: Internet-enabled devices include any smartphone, tablet, smartwatch, or other device capable of connecting to the internet and enabling access to content on the internet, including social media applications. Internet-enabled devices do not include the following:

  • Non-internet enabled devices such as cellular phones or other communication devices not capable of connecting to the internet or enabling the individual to access content on the internet.
  • Internet-enabled devices supplied by the school district, charter school, or board of cooperative educational services (BOCES) that are used for an educational purpose.

  School Day: The school day shall mean the entirety of every instructional day during all instructional and non-instructional time. This includes homeroom periods, lunch, recess, study halls, and passing time.

  School Grounds: The school grounds shall mean in or within any building, structure, athletic playing field, playground, or land contained within the real property boundary line of a district elementary, intermediate, junior high, vocational, or high school, a charter school, or a BOCES facility.

• Developing District-Level Policies

  School districts, charter schools, and BOCES must adopt a policy outlining prohibitions during the school day by August 1, 2025. The policy must include, prior to adoption, consultation with local stakeholders, including but not limited to parents, students, and employee organizations representing each bargaining unit within the building. In addition, the policy must be posted in a clearly visible and accessible way on the institution’s website. It must, upon request, be made accessible in the twelve most commonly spoken non-English languages (based on data through the most recent American Community Survey through the US Census Bureau).

  The policy must include the following:

  • One or more methods for parents or those in parental relation to a student to contact the student during the school day and provide written notification of these methods for parents or those in parental relation to a student prior to the beginning of the school year and upon the enrollment of new students.
  • One or more methods for onsite storage where students may store their internet-enabled devices. The law’s intent is to restrict student access to covered devices for non-permitted reasons. Student backpacks are not an acceptable storage option. Policies should make clear that continuous student possession of devices, either on their person or in backpacks, is not adequate to prohibit student use as defined in the law. Schools may utilize lockers as a dedicated storage method, though to be in compliance with the law, policies must be crafted to effectively prohibit the unsanctioned use of covered devices across the entire school day. Allowing continuous and unsupervised student access to covered devices when stored in a locker would not meet the law’s objective of prohibiting unsanctioned use across the school day and school grounds.
• Exemptions

  Exemptions to this policy will include:

  • Authorization by a teacher, principal, or the school district, charter school, or BOCES for a specific educational purpose.
  • Instances where necessary for the management of a student’s healthcare.
  • Usage in the event of an emergency.
  • Usage for translation services.
  • Usage on a case-by-case basis, upon review and determination by a school psychologist, school social worker, or school counselor, for a student caregiver who is routinely responsible for the care and wellbeing of a family member.
  • Or, where required by law.

  Additionally, the policy may not prohibit the use of an internet-enabled device where it is included in the student’s individualized education program (IEP) or section 504 plans.

• Violations and Suspensions

  School districts, charter schools, and BOCES, as subject to this legislation, shall not suspend a student solely for violating the district’s policy regarding internet-enabled devices during the school day. In addition, beginning September 1st, 2026, each district, charter school, and BOCES must publish a report on its website summarizing enforcement of the policy during the previous school year. The report must include the following:

  • Non-identifiable demographic data of students who have faced disciplinary actions for non-compliance, and
  • An analysis of any demographic disparities in enforcement of the policy.

  If statistically significant enforcement disparities are identified, the report must include a mitigation action plan.