Today, Governor Kathy Hochul announced a $13.5 million investment in distraction-free schools, sealing the deal she made earlier this year with parents, educators and administrators to create healthier and safer learning environments for students by restricting smartphone use in K-12 schools across the state.
“New York was the first state to target addictive social media feeds — and now we’re the largest state to restrict smartphones in schools throughout the entire school day.” Governor Hochul said during her press conference at NYSUT Headquarters in Latham. “I know our young people succeed when they’re learning and growing, not clicking and scrolling — and that’s why New York continues to lead the nation on protecting our kids in the digital age.”
"This isn’t about being anti-phone or anti-technology — it’s about being pro-childhood,” said NYSUT President Melinda Person. “We’re giving students seven hours a day free from distractions so they can focus on learning, access their creativity, and make real human connections. Tackling social media and technology use as a public health issue will take continued partnership, education, and courage — and New York is ready to lead the way."
NYSUT spearheaded the push this year to pass a bell-to-bell policy that bans smart devices during the school day and empowers districts to develop their own storage plans and provisions for parent communications. The new policy will go into effect for the 2025-26 school year and applies to all schools in public school districts, as well as charter schools and Boards of Cooperative Educational Services.
Hochul acknowledged that the historic cellphone policy is the result of a hard-fought battle against detractors, many of whom proposed meaningless half-measures. “There were those who were opposed. Those who said it couldn’t be done, and they tried to spread misleading information about this, but they sure as heck didn’t know who they were messing with because I had 700,000 members of NYSUT on my side ... and we got it done,” said Hochul. Hochul commended Person, saying, “She was the warrior I needed on my side.”
NYSUT pioneered the distraction-free schools movement beginning in 2024, when the union and its partners mobilized to get two groundbreaking bills — SAFE for Kids Act and the Child Data Protection Act — passed in New York. With the ink barely dry on the legislation, the governor and NYSUT turned their attention to distraction-free schools. In September, NYSUT convened educators, healthcare professionals and law enforcement officers to discuss the far-reaching impacts of cellphones and smart devices on kids at its Disconnected conference and ultimately recommended adopting a statewide bell-to-bell policy. Since then, NYSUT has been lobbying for the policy and convening educators and health and safety experts to share their own experiences at regional Disconnected conferences in Rochester, Tarrytown, Syracuse, Buffalo, Plattsburgh, and Long Island.
Bell-to-bell policies have already been successfully adopted in districts throughout New York — and local leaders say the results have been positive and they are happy to see the state now taking a leadership role on the issue.
Last year, the Poughkeepsie City School District implemented an ‘away for the day’ policy at the middle and high school. "It has been absolutely wonderful to see kids talking and having conversations again, not engrossed with their phones,” said Kimberly Popken, president of the Poughkeepsie Public School Teachers Association. She said the governor’s new bell-to-bell policy marks a huge improvement. “This makes it so much easier. It won’t be left up to individual districts anymore. Now, everyone will be on board, and rather than individual districts having to fight their own battles, we will have common messaging.”
The Medina Central School District implemented a teacher-led ban on cellphones in early 2025, and they’ve never looked back. “In the past three months, our kids have learned to be kids again,” said Joseph Byrne, president of the Medina TA. “It’s led to a complete rewiring of their brains.”
Byrne said he was grateful for the leadership of the governor and NYSUT and advised districts to do their homework to make for the smoothest possible transition in the fall, including multiple education sessions with students and parents. “If you want to hit the ground running in September, you have to start working on it now.”
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