Soft Paws: Cruelty investigator honored with Bilinski Award

By Melanie Lekocevic

Capital Region Independent Media

GREENVILLE — Should cellphones and other internet-connected devices be allowed in schools?

In response to a state proposal to ban the devices in all schools around New York, the Greenville Board of Education hosted a public forum Jan. 22 to gather input from the community to consider the issue.

Gov. Kathy Hochul proposed in the state budget a ban on cellphones and other devices that connect to the internet, such as tablets, Apple Watches, Meta smart glasses and the like, because they can be a distraction during the school day.

The district and board of education members met with faculty, staff, parents and the community at large to discuss the proposal and how Greenville might handle it.

“Currently, Greenville does not have a policy for cellphone or internet-connected devices,” Board of Education President Tracy Young said. “We have been looking at other schools to see what their policies include, and the Policy Committee has been beginning to work on what some of our thoughts are for that.”

The forum was intended to gather community input into the process and what the policy should ultimately look like.

Under the proposal by the governor — which would have to be adopted when the final state budget is approved presumably by April 1 — every district in the state would have to adopt a written policy by Aug. 1, 2025, regarding cellphone and other internet-connected devices.

“It’s not just cellphones — it can be Apple Watches, Meta glasses, tablets — we need to make sure the policy is all-encompassing,” District Superintendent Michael Bennett said. “This does not apply to school devices. We will continue to use our Chromebooks and our laptops. It doesn’t apply to those things, only to those devices that students are bringing into the school.”

The policy developed by districts would also have to include one or more ways parents and students can be in touch with one another during the school day, as well as a method of storing students’ devices.

There would be exceptions to the rule, for instance for devices used by students to monitor a health condition, for translation services for students who don’t speak English, and for students with an IEP that depends on the use of such a device, Bennett said.

The state budget proposed by Hochul would also provide some funding to help schools implement the new policy.

“The governor in her proposal is dedicating $13.5 million to school districts across the state to help with the implementation of this ban,” Bennett said.

One of the first issues discussed at the forum was how students’ devices would be stored during the school day. An option used by several area schools that have already implemented a no-cellphone policy is the Yondr pouch — students place their device into the pouch, which is then locked, and reopened for them at the end of the school day.

“With the Yondr pouches, the kids keep them with them throughout the school day and at the end of the day, there are these magnetic machines that the kids go by and they open them up,” said High School Principal Kristy Goergen. “There’s a cart where they drop their pouch in there. Some schools give the students their Yondr pouch for the four years of high school — they can decorate them. But the phone is locked up during the day.”

One parent said the Yondr pouch is a good option, but that there are ways around them for determined students.

“It’s a good option. We are very much in support of this technology ban,” he said. “Hopefully there are other options — there is a cottage industry out there for how to defeat it, so you will be working against a bunch of kids working to defeat this ban.”

Bennett said no system will be foolproof and there will always be students trying to circumvent the rules, but the goal is to reduce the distraction of devices as much as possible. There will also be a period of adjustment to the new rule.

“Kids will find a way to get around things,” Bennett said. “We have to teach responsibility. Technology is not going away, we are living with this, so finding ways to teach responsible engagement through the use of personal devices is something we have to take a long hard look at.”

Another option for storage suggested was to store students’ devices in empty lockers — but not inside the students’ own lockers.

“They would use every excuse in the book to get out of the classroom to get to their phone,” a teacher said.

Also discussed at the forum was giving parents and students the ability to communicate during the school day — one of the requirements of the governor’s proposal. Providing that would also help get buy-in from parents for the new policy, one speaker noted.

Young outlined how one district on Long Island that has already implemented a no-cellphone policy ensured parent-child communication — with a dedicated bank of phones in the front office, monitored by office staff, that are free and accessible to the students.

Parents and teachers alike agreed the devices are a big distraction for students.

While everyone attending the forum was in agreement with a ban on internet-connected devices in the schools, Board of Education Vice President Angela Mauriello said she has been approached by parents who did not attend the forum who said they would not comply with the new regulation, should it be implemented.

For more information on the public forum, see the Spartan Strong News column on page B1.