West Seneca outlines enforcement plan for New York's distraction-free learning law

The West Seneca Central School District plans to require students to keep personal electronic devices off and stored during the instructional day under a district policy being drafted to comply with New York's distraction-free learning law, Superintendent Dr. Lisa Krueger told the board at the reorganizational meeting.

Dr. Krueger said the law requires districts to have a policy in place by Aug. 1 and the district has published revisions to its code of conduct for a 30-day public comment period before the board may adopt the changes. "This is otherwise known as the cell phone ban," she said, describing the timeline and stakeholder process that produced the recommendations.

The superintendent said a stakeholder group that included teachers, administrators, union leadership, student leaders at both high schools and families produced a consistent set of recommendations by school level. At the elementary level, the district will encourage families of pre-K through second-grade students to leave devices at home; if a device is brought to school it will be "off and stored away for the day," Dr. Krueger said. Middle schools will continue the current practice of students storing devices in locked lockers. The high schools will adopt the same "off and away for the day" approach.

Dr. Krueger outlined a progressive-discipline sequence: a first offense will result in a verbal warning and a phone call home; a second offense will add a detention and a phone call; a third offense will add two detentions and require the parent to come to school to retrieve the device. A fourth offense would require the student to check the device into the main office daily and have it stored there for 10 weeks; a fifth offense would result in the device being held in the main office for the remainder of the school year.

The superintendent noted a privacy and cost trade-off in storage options. The stakeholder group considered lockable pouches but the group concluded the per-unit cost (roughly $25 to $35 each) would be an expense borne by taxpayers. Instead, Dr. Krueger said the district will initially use sealed envelopes signed across the seal by the student when a device must be held in the main office: "we can put that in a sealed envelope that the student signs their name across the seal of the envelope," she said, to protect student privacy while storing phones.

Dr. Krueger also emphasized a legal limit on discipline: "I have noted, and this is in the New York state law, that students cannot be suspended from school solely for the use of their cell phone," she said. The superintendent added that refusal to comply with staff direction to power off and store a device could constitute insubordination and be handled under separate disciplinary rules.

A board member raised practical concerns about locker use and the burden on teachers, asking whether teachers would be expected to check bags or police phones in class. The board member warned, "teachers don't wanna be policing this; they're there to teach, not to worry about cell phones," and asked for a clear office procedure for storing and labeling devices to avoid mishaps.

Dr. Krueger said principals will include the policy in orientations and welcome-back communications, that the district will insert information into the district calendar and post details on the district website as required by law, and that the district has already sent one email to families with another scheduled for July 2. She said the board has scheduled a formal status check on Oct. 28 to review how the practices are working and whether adjustments are needed.

The code of conduct revisions remain open for public comment for 30 days; the board must consider public feedback before any formal adoption. Dr. Krueger said adoption of the policy will follow that comment period and additional board consideration.