NYC students head back to school with new cellphone ban in effect

Nearly a million New York City students are heading back to school Thursday — where they will be banned from using their cellphones bell-to-bell for the first time.

The controversial phone ban, which was signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul and approved by the city’s Panel for Education Policy this summer, will present a stark change in the city’s classrooms and officials hope it will increase stalled academic performances.

Each of the Big Apple’s roughly 1,600 public schools was tasked with coming up with their own policy roll-out plan, which Michael Mulgrew, president of the city’s teacher union, the United Federation of Teachers, said may take a few months to fine-tune.

“What was supposed to be going on over the past few days is that all the schools were supposed to be going over their plans and making sure that it was in effect and ready to go,” Mulgrew told ABC7. 

“But again, it’s probably going to take until about Thanksgiving until it calms down,” he added.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the Distraction-Free Schools bill into law earlier this year, which requires smartphone restrictions in K-12 schools statewide beginning the 2025-2026 school year.

The move was backed by the state’s powerful teachers’ union and approved by New York City’s Panel of Education Policy in a 14-1 vote in July.

Under the policy, students will still be allowed to use the devices during their commutes, but will have to fork them over once the bell rings.

Exceptions will be made for students who use the devices for medical purposes, like monitoring insulin, or for those who are directly responsible for the medical care of a loved one.

Phones can also be used at a teacher’s direction for “specific educational purposes,” according to the policy, which Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos said will be “dynamic.”

The city allocated $25 million for schools to cover steps necessary to implement the phone ban, including storing the devices and ensuring a system exists for parents to contact their kids in an emergency.

Some city students may also see their class sizes reduced this year as schools fall in compliance with a state law that caps no more than 20 students per class in early grades, 23 in 4th through 8th grades, and 25 in high school by 2028.

Mulgrew said this year 60% of classes will meet that as the city has plans on hiring thousands of additional teachers.

The city Department of Education will spend $42,168 per student this school year, budget experts project.

The record sum is nearly $2,000 per student more than the DOE spent last year, factoring costs for food, transportation, school support services, central administration, pensions, benefits and debt service. according to the nonprofit think tank Citizens Budget Commission. 

The DOE’s $41.2 billion budget is a third of the entire city’s.