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Assembly Bill A6547

2025-2026 Legislative Session

Requires school districts, boards of cooperative educational services, charter schools and nonpublic schools to establish cellphone policies and procedures

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Current Bill Status - In Assembly Committee

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2025-A6547 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:
Assembly Education
Law Section:
Education Law
Laws Affected:
Add §409-o, Ed L

2025-A6547 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Requires school districts, boards of cooperative educational services, charter schools and nonpublic schools to establish cellphone policies and procedures; requires the establishment of a committee to develop such policies and procedures; requires such policies and procedures to be individually tailored to specific school environments.

2025-A6547 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf 

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   6547
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                               March 6, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  BENEDETTO  --  read once and referred to the
   Committee on Education
 
 AN ACT to amend the education  law,  in  relation  to  requiring  school
   districts to establish cellphone policies and procedures
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new section  409-o
 to read as follows:
   §  409-O. CELLPHONE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES. 1. THE BOARD OF EDUCATION
 OR TRUSTEES OF EVERY SCHOOL DISTRICT OR, IN THE CASE OF THE CITY  SCHOOL
 DISTRICT  OF  NEW  YORK,  THE CHANCELLOR, AND EVERY BOARD OF COOPERATIVE
 EDUCATIONAL SERVICES, CHARTER SCHOOL AND  NONPUBLIC  SCHOOL  WITHIN  THE
 STATE SHALL ESTABLISH A COMMITTEE TO DEVELOP POLICIES AND PROCEDURES FOR
 THE  USE  OF CELLPHONES BY STUDENTS DURING SCHOOL HOURS AND SHALL IMPLE-
 MENT SUCH POLICIES AND PROCEDURES IN THEIR RESPECTIVE  SCHOOL  DISTRICT,
 BOARD  OF COOPERATIVE EDUCATIONAL SERVICES, CHARTER SCHOOL, OR NONPUBLIC
 SCHOOL.
   2. THE COMMITTEE REQUIRED PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION ONE OF THIS  SECTION
 SHALL  BE  COMPRISED OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICT, BOARD OF
 COOPERATIVE EDUCATIONAL SERVICES, OR SCHOOL AND OTHER INTERESTED PARTIES
 AND SHALL INCLUDE, BUT NEED NOT BE LIMITED TO: THE SUPERINTENDENT OF THE
 DISTRICT; PRINCIPALS; TEACHERS; STUDENTS; PARENTS;  AND  REPRESENTATIVES
 OF  ANY  TEACHERS'  UNION  WHICH  HAS  MEMBERS  WORKING  IN  SUCH SCHOOL
 DISTRICT, BOARD OF COOPERATIVE EDUCATIONAL SERVICES, OR SCHOOL.
   3. THE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES REQUIRED PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION ONE OF
 THIS SECTION SHALL BE INDIVIDUALLY TAILORED TO SPECIFIC SCHOOL  ENVIRON-
 MENTS  AND  MAY,  BUT  SHALL NOT BE REQUIRED TO, INCLUDE: STRATEGIES FOR
 IN-CLASS CELLPHONE STORAGE, DESIGNATED AREAS OUTSIDE OF  CLASSROOMS  FOR
 CELLPHONE  USE, FAIR AND TRANSPARENT CONSEQUENCES FOR VIOLATIONS OF SUCH
 POLICIES AND PROCEDURES, AND UNIFORM ENFORCEMENT OF  VIOLATIONS.    WHEN
 DEVELOPING CELLPHONE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES, COMMITTEES SHALL TAKE INTO
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD10138-01-5

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