A Message from the Superintendent: NYS Policies on Cell Phone Use

Dear Eastchester Faculty, Families, and Students,

I hope you all had a magnificent Fourth of July.

As you may be aware, all school districts in the state of New York are required to have a cell phone policy that bans the use of internet enabled phones from bell-to-bell, adopted and in place by August 1, 2025.

On a national scale, at this moment, over 30 states have already adopted laws or policies that require districts to ban cell phones. New York State has now also adopted a bell-to-bell cell phone ban policy and ‘the ban applies to all schools statewide in public school districts, in addition to charter schools and Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES)’. 

Although the use of Internet enabled devices has become a common way of daily life for all of us, in the last three decades, it has also become alarmingly clear the impact phones and social media can have on growing adolescents and even adults as platforms and devices become more sophisticated. So much so that there is a collective focus amongst researchers, parents, educators, legislators, media, and the community on its impact on young people.

And, as we approach the next school year, the Eastchester UFSD is committed to ensuring we are:

1. Compliant with all state guidance, requirements, and laws, as required.
2. Promoting and providing healthy, safe, and distraction free learning environments for our students that support their development cognitively, physically, and social/emotionally as young adolescents.
3. Promoting and encouraging independence within our students so they are equipped with the skills, knowledge, and ability to self regulate behaviors and articulate their own needs as growing, responsible, young adolescents in the community and wider world.
4. Reinforcing students with the mindset and skills to be responsible users of technology as informed and knowledgeable, digital citizens who make good decisions when navigating the sophisticated technological tools currently available to us.

There has been a tremendous amount of research around the effects of cell phone usage and the impact on student mental health and well-being. Over the course of this coming year, we will provide opportunities for our students and families alike to engage in learning more about how our school district is committed to building a healthy distraction-free learning environment for students during the school day. 

Here are two articles that may be of interest:

• Tips for discussing the NYS bell-to-bell cellphone ban policy with your children ahead of 2025-26 school year, resource provided by NYSSBA
• Distraction-Free Schools: Governor Hochul Announces New York to Become Largest State in the Nation With Statewide, Bell-to-Bell Restrictions on Smartphones in Schools

Your Feedback is Important

As all districts, including ours, move to adopt the cell phone policy, we are also dedicated to continuing to collect stakeholder feedback throughout the summer and new academic year. Your feedback will help us in coupling our unique local context with the required demographic data that must be reported to the State each year. 

And, as always, all Board of Education meeting information and materials can be found on our public BoardDocs site for anyone interested in hearing more about this upcoming required policy adoption.

Thank you and I look forward to sending additional updates on this new policy implementation as we progress through this coming year.

Sincerely,

Dr. Villanueva