• January 16, 2025

     

    Dear Parents, Students, Faculty, Staff, and Community Members,

     

    I wanted to let you know that at last night’s school board meeting the board discussed the possibility of creating a cell phone ban in the High School.  The full discussion can be viewed by following this link to the video of the board meeting.  You can find the beginning of the discussion about cell phones if you go to the 15:50 mark of the video.

     

    As you will see from the video, the school board unanimously supported the idea of a cell phone ban (including air pods and smart watches) for all students in the High School.  This ban will begin at the beginning of the 2025-2026 school year. This ban will be very similar to the ban that currently exists in our Middle School where students are required to keep their cell phones locked in their lockers from the beginning of school until the end of the school day.

     

    Statewide Dialog about Cell Phones

     

    The topic of cell phone bans is being much discussed across the state. NY Governor Kathy Hochul has long been advocating for a ban on cell phones and she has repeatedly indicated that she will soon be announcing legislation that will impose some sort of cell phone ban in NY schools, although specifics of what that ban might look like have not yet been shared.  Here is a link to one of many news articles on this topic.

     

    The New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) sponsored a “disconnected” conference and informational session in Albany in the fall where many speakers, including Governor Hochul, advocated for the banning of cell phones in NY public schools.  Three New Paltz school board members joined me in attending this conference.  You can learn more about the conference and what the message was by clicking on this link.

     

    After this “Disconnected” Conference in September, the board members who attended brought the message back to the rest of the school board.  All of the school board members were interested in pursuing the possibility of a ban on cell phones in our high school so they asked me to survey the public on their opinions about a cell phone ban.  Over the next couple of months, all district parents, students in grades 8-12, and high school teachers were given the opportunity to take a survey to let us know their opinions on this matter.  At the board meeting last night I shared the results of the surveys



    Student Survey Results

     

    420 students in grades 8-12 responded.

     

     

    The students were quite unified in their response to the primary question:

     

     

    In the remainder of the survey, students provided plenty of rationale for their choices   Here are a couple of  survey responses that sum up their position:

     

    Students should be able to use their phones to easily contact parents, check grades, keep up to date on assignments, view their schedule, and check reminders about tasks.

     

    I think the ban is a bad idea because nowadays most people communicate through cell phones and especially parents trying to contact their children. There could be important events or instances going on in an individual's life and not having access to their cell phone could cause some issues with this

     

    Parent Survey Results

     

    The survey was completed by 525 parents/guardians.  Slightly over half of these individuals currently have a student in the high school.

     

     

     

    Representative comments from those parents who were opposed to a cell phone ban include:

     

    I want my child to have her phone in her pocket throughout the day mostly for safety issues. If there is an active emergency like a school shooter I want my child to have a line of communication.

     

    My daughter works in the afternoons with early release and may need to be contacted by her job. She also has two homes and often her other parent needs to change their schedule and needs to text her.

     

    Representative comments from those who are in support of a cell phone ban include:

     

    I feel that while cell phones serve a valuable purpose in daily life - they are detrimental to the level of focus students need during class and during an emergency

     

    They are distracting. The kids are already used to the rule of no phones coming out of the middle school, adding the phone at the HS does not create any value but does create a lot of distraction



    High School Faculty and Staff Survey Results

     

    A total of 52 faculty and staff members in the high school took the survey.

     

     

     

    Representative comments from those high school employees  who were opposed to a cell phone ban include:

     

    I think there should be an education component to cell-phone use. Just as with any other technology, as we prepare our students to post-secondary educational settings where they will be expected to use them in a responsible manner.

     

    High school children are almost adults and should learn to monitor themselves with support from adults. It's a practice and important skill, one that will almost certainly be necessary in their adult life.

     

    Representative comments from those high school employees  who support a cell phone ban include:

     

    Cellphones are a huge distraction; every "free second" they have, their phones out and students are doing any number of things on it (texting, social media, YouTube, TikTok, etc.) which obviously takes their focus away from instruction as well taking them away from actual interaction with their peers.

     

    It will help the students focus and be more attentive in class. The students will be more engaged and build better social skills.

     

    Unarmed Security Guard in the High School

     

    During the cell phone discussion at the board meeting, the board members expressed the desire to support the efforts of the teachers and administrators to enforce the cell phone ban.  In the past, the board has also considered the need for security in the school buildings.  At the meeting, the board members unanimously expressed a desire to have an unarmed security guard in the high school to help oversee entry to the building in the mornings, to patrol the school hallways and other areas, to monitor school security videos, to monitor the school parking lots and entrances and exits, and to help enforce the cell phone policy.

     

    As I have mentioned in past updates, the district will almost surely be unable to cover the anticipated expenses for 2025-2026 with the revenue we expect to get from the State and the revenue we expect to get from the taxpayers as we anticipate an estimated 3% increase in the tax levy.  Staffing reductions will be necessary.  The estimated annual cost of an unarmed security guard is about $51,000.  The school board realizes that in order to allocate $51,000 in the 2025-2026 budget, additional reductions will probably need to be made elsewhere.

     

    What Exactly Will a Cell Phone Ban Look Like?

     

    It will take time to answer this question.  The next step in the process will be for high school administrators to meet with the high school faculty and staff to discuss what a ban of cell phones will look like in the high school and how a cell phone ban will be enforced.  The administrators will then create a sub committee of high school faculty and staff, led by the high school Principal, to consider the recommendations of the entire staff.

     

    The next step in the process will be for the sub-committee to meet with the high school student government, since  student input will be crucial in making the definition and enforcement of a cell phone ban go as smoothly as possible.  After hearing the thoughts of the entire student government, members of the student government will be invited to join the sub committee led by the Principal.

     

    Ultimately, the committee will define all aspects of the plan for a cell phone ban and present the plan to the Superintendent and other district office staff.  The Superintendent will make sure that the plan satisfies the school board’s expressed goals of a cell phone ban..

     

    More Information to Come

     

    The school board is truly interested in what they feel is best for our students.  That is why they have made this decision.  While some faculty and parents, along with most of the students, have concerns about this new policy, we hope that everyone will educate themselves on the need for this policy and support it to the fullest.  I realize that it will be much easier to support something that you fully understand, and in this case, a lot of information is lacking.

     

    So, I request your patience as the high school administrators, faculty, staff, and students work to define and refine the plan. I will share the plan and any information I have with you as it becomes available.

     

    If you have suggestions or comments that might be useful to those who are formulating the plan for a cell phone ban in the high school, please feel free to reach out to me or to Dr. Samuelle Simms, Principal of the high school ssimms@newpaltz.k12.ny.us.

     

    Thank you for your time.

     

    Regards,

     

    Stephen Gratto - Superintendent