Requires school districts, boards of cooperative educational services, charter schools and nonpublic schools to establish cellphone policies and procedures; requires the establishment of a committee to develop such policies and procedures; requires such policies and procedures to be individually tailored to specific school environments.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A6547
SPONSOR: Benedetto TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the education law, in relation to requiring school
districts to establish cellphone policies and procedures
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL::
Requires school districts, boards of cooperative educational services,
charter schools, and nonpublic schools to establish cell phone policies
and procedures.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS::
Section 1 amends the education law by adding a new section 409-o to
require that the board of education or trustees of every school district
establish a committee. The committee shall develop policies and proce-
dures that will be implemented in their respective school district,
board of cooperative educational services, charter school, or nonpublic
school.
Section 2 is the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION::
The Governor has proposed legislation that would ban the use of smart-
phones and other internet-enabled personal devices for all k-12 schools.
To ensure a seamless and transparent execution of the cellphone ban each
school should establish a committee that is comprised of school adminis-
trators and other parties of interest, such as the parents, teachers,
and students. This will provide consistency and clarity in the enforce-
ment of the established procedures and policies in addition to giving
everyone of interest a fair say in what those policies and procedures
cover.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY::
None.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS::
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE::
This act shall take effect immediately
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6547
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 6, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BENEDETTO -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to requiring school
districts to establish cellphone policies and procedures
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new section 409-o
2 to read as follows:
3 § 409-o. Cellphone policies and procedures. 1. The board of education
4 or trustees of every school district or, in the case of the city school
5 district of New York, the chancellor, and every board of cooperative
6 educational services, charter school and nonpublic school within the
7 state shall establish a committee to develop policies and procedures for
8 the use of cellphones by students during school hours and shall imple-
9 ment such policies and procedures in their respective school district,
10 board of cooperative educational services, charter school, or nonpublic
11 school.
12 2. The committee required pursuant to subdivision one of this section
13 shall be comprised of representatives of the school district, board of
14 cooperative educational services, or school and other interested parties
15 and shall include, but need not be limited to: the superintendent of the
16 district; principals; teachers; students; parents; and representatives
17 of any teachers' union which has members working in such school
18 district, board of cooperative educational services, or school.
19 3. The policies and procedures required pursuant to subdivision one of
20 this section shall be individually tailored to specific school environ-
21 ments and may, but shall not be required to, include: strategies for
22 in-class cellphone storage, designated areas outside of classrooms for
23 cellphone use, fair and transparent consequences for violations of such
24 policies and procedures, and uniform enforcement of violations. When
25 developing cellphone policies and procedures, committees shall take into
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10138-01-5
A. 6547 2
1 consideration the thoughts and concerns of representatives of the school
2 district, board of cooperative educational services, or school and other
3 interested parties, including students, parents of students, teachers
4 and school administrators.
5 4. The policies and procedures required pursuant to subdivision one of
6 this section shall be established and implemented prior to the start of
7 the two thousand twenty-five--two thousand twenty-six academic year.
8 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
