Bronx PEP representative explains new state "distraction-free" school policy and local rollout

Bernita Parsons, the Bronx representative to the Panel for Education Policy (PEP), told Community Board 11 —ducation, Culture & Services Committee members that governor-led state action this school year established a "distraction-free" requirement for New York City public schools and that schools were required to communicate their implementation plans to parents immediately.

"As of today, all school were to provide all parents via communication their policy of how the schools individually were gonna be compliant to the New York state law of the distraction free zone, and that is of all electronic devices, personal electronic devices," Parsons said.

Parsons said schools have adopted a range of practical approaches to comply: pouch or locker storage systems, and in at least one case a Ziploc system at Walton High School. She said the city chancellor had urged schools to maintain clear, open lines of communication with parents and that schools will use short probationary enforcement periods before escalating disciplinary responses. "They are not gonna be suspended or expelled if they don't have a cell phone, and each school is different in that regard," Parsons said.

Why it matters: The committee heard about immediate operational changes parents can expect and where responsibilities lie. Parsons framed the change as a parent-engagement and safety issue: she and several committee members tied the policy to concerns about classroom distraction, cyberbullying, and emergency communications during events such as the earlier-year earthquake.

Committee members and attendees pressed Parsons on practical details. Alex Ellison, chair of the Education Committee, asked whether the committee had received early feedback from schools after the first day of implementation; Parsons said she had a briefing scheduled the following day. A committee member with experience in District 75 said her school reported a smooth start and that many students complied with the collection systems.

On enforcement, Parsons said schools are developing probationary schemes at the school level and that repeated noncompliance may escalate after specified thresholds (for example, three or four incidents), but that removal from school was not the stated response in initial guidance. Parsons also identified a separate concern parents have raised about off-campus interactions with immigration authorities: she said New York City public schools do not have jurisdiction off school grounds and noted federal agents are generally not allowed onto school property without a judicial warrant.

Parsons described a role for the PEP in aggregating parent concerns and communicating them to the chancellor's office and said the PEP will push for clearer guidance where parents ask for it; she invited parents to bring school-specific complaints to her for presentation to the PEP.

Committee members asked whether the city will produce materials to help parents reduce device use at home; Parsons said that specific guidance for parents had not yet been developed but she would raise the question with the panel and at upcoming roundtables. Several parents in the meeting offered to help spread information in district networks and through social media.

Parsonsfirst referenced herself in the meeting as Bernita Parsons, Bronx PEP representative. Other participants who asked substantive questions or offered operational detail included Alex Ellison (chair, Education Committee), Cynthia (chair, Community Board), Kaye Charles (community member) and Kate Cardona (parent). No formal vote or policy change was taken by the committee during the presentation.

Looking ahead: Parsons said she will report back to local school leadership and the PEP after scheduled briefings and pledged to share points of contact so parents can get school-specific communications. She encouraged parents to update contact information (blue cards and NYC Schools accounts) so they receive robocalls and texts in emergencies.