The Carle Place School District’s Board of Education met to discuss its cellphone policy, which will be enacted before the start of the school year.
Districts across the state have been formulating their policies concerning Gov. Kathy Hochul’s ban on phones for students, which was enacted in the spring.
“We’re going to be compassionate with our students about it and we’re also going to give it the respect that it deserves,” Ted Cannone, the district’s superintendent, said when presenting Carle Place’s policies at the Thursday, July 31, board meeting.
Cannone said that in compliance with the ban, devices must be turned off and out of sight all day. Schools can compel students to hand over their phones, and parents can reach their children through the main office.
Students from kindergarten to fifth grade cannot bring their devices to school, while students from sixth to 12th grade must keep their phones in their lockers. There are also exemptions for students needing a device to manage medical conditions.
Schools were always able to make students hand over their phones regardless of the policy changes.
Cannone said the schools will have a limited number of storage devices for students to access.
If a student are caught with their phone, Cannone said they will be able to retrieve their phone at the end of the day for the first instance. After that, a parent will need to come to the school to retrieve it.
“Inconvenient, but that’s the point,” he said. “We are trying to comply with this. We need folks to be partners with us.”
The board said it has consulted with parents, faculty, students and bargaining units about the changes.
After being asked about phone usage when high school students go out for lunch, Cannone said they will be able to access their phones off the school grounds during the lunch period.
“In the course of the period, they have the time to get to their locker, get their device, go outside, turn it on and do what they do for the lunch period. By the time they come back and the bell rings, the device has to be off and back in the locker,” he said.
