Manhasset district to enforce student cell-phone ban, will route parent contact through district Chromebooks

The Manhasset Board of Education heard details about a new student cell-phone ban and how parents will contact students during the school day, interim Superintendent Dr. Christopher J. Pelletieri said at a board meeting. The district plans to require phones and other internet-connected devices to remain in student lockers during school hours and to permit communication through district-issued Chromebooks using preapproved email addresses.

The new rule, Pelletieri said, will require students to place phones and other internet-connected devices in lockers, though students may retrieve devices for lunch and then return them to lockers. "The plan is that they'll go to the locker, get their phone, and take it with them, and then put it back in their locker upon return," Pelletieri said. He added that the district and technology staff will provide a way for parents and students to exchange messages through white-listed district email addresses.

Why this matters: The policy changes classroom procedures for every student and shifts how families contact students during the school day. Pelletieri said the district has taken steps to preserve cybersecurity while enabling limited parent contact.

Board details and limits: Pelletieri told the board the district will permit parent-student email through district-issued Chromebooks only to addresses the district has preapproved. "You will be able to contact your child and they contact you," he said, describing the use of district whitelisted emails routed through the firewall. He also said office phones and building staff will continue to be available to handle urgent contacts.

Implementation and anticipated issues: Pelletieri acknowledged the ban represents a major behavioral change. "Everyone loves their cell phones, but ... this is a major behavioral change for our students. So we should expect there's going to be a lot of angst," President Post added during discussion, asking staff to work with families and teachers through the transition. Board members and administrators said they will communicate details to families before school starts and that the technology team will publish instructions for parents to update or add whitelisted email addresses.

What the board directed: Board members discussed communications and asked staff to include clear directions for parents to update contact emails in the usual back-to-school messaging; the transcript shows staff agreed to do so. No formal policy vote was recorded during the meeting; the discussion appeared as part of the superintendent's report.

Sources and limits: The account above is based on the superintendent's remarks and follow-up exchanges in the meeting. The board did not adopt a published policy text at this session, and specific operational details (for example, how many alternative parent addresses will be allowed or the exact whitelist process) were described as forthcoming by district staff and therefore are not specified here.