New York School Phone Ban (Education Law § 2803): Bell-to-Bell Rules and the Sept. 1 Report

Yes. New York Education Law § 2803 requires every school district, charter school and BOCES to prohibit students from using smartphones, tablets, smartwatches and other internet-enabled devices anywhere on school grounds for the whole school day, including lunch. It took effect for 2025–26, and the first annual enforcement reports were due Sept. 1, 2026.

Last checked October 23, 2026 against Education Law § 2803 and the Governor's office summary of the law. This page explains the law; it is not legal advice.

What Section 2803 Requires

Enacted in the FY 2026 state budget that Gov. Kathy Hochul signed on May 9, 2025, § 2803 required each district, charter school and BOCES to adopt, by Aug. 1, 2025, a written policy:

"prohibiting the use of internet-enabled devices by students during the school day anywhere on school grounds"

Source: N.Y. Education Law § 2803(2)

• • The whole school day. The law's school day covers instructional and non-instructional time, including homeroom, lunch, recess, study halls and passing time.
• • Consultation first. Schools had to consult employee organizations, parents and students before adopting the policy.
• • Posted and translated. The policy must be posted prominently on the website and, on request, translated into any of the 12 most common non-English languages in the state.

Devices Covered

Internet-enabled devices include smartphones, tablets, smartwatches and other devices that can connect to the internet. Basic phones that cannot connect to the internet are not covered, and neither are school-supplied devices used for education.

Storage: Backpacks Do Not Count

Every policy must provide one or more on-site storage methods for the school day, and lockers may be one of them. The Governor's office guidance adds that keeping a device on the student or in a backpack does not meet the requirement. The state budget included $13.5 million to help schools buy storage.

How Parents Reach Students

The policy must give parents and guardians at least one way to contact their child during the school day, and schools must describe it in writing at the start of each school year and at enrollment.

Exceptions

Education Law § 2803(5)(a) says the policy "may authorize" student use of an internet-enabled device during the school day on school grounds. That permission is optional. A district does not have to allow it. Where a policy does authorize use, the statute lists:

• • For a specific educational purpose authorized by a teacher, principal or the district.
• • To manage the student's health care.
• • In the event of an emergency.
• • For translation services.
• • For a student caregiver, case by case, after review by a school psychologist, social worker or counselor.
• • Where required by law.

A policy may not prohibit device use that is part of a student's IEP or Section 504 plan. That limit is required. Emergency phone use is not.

Section 2803(3) separately requires the policy to include one or more methods for a parent to contact the student during the school day. The emergency wording for every state, D.C. and Puerto Rico is in school phone ban emergency exceptions by state.

Discipline: No Suspension for a Violation Alone

A student may not be suspended when the only ground is accessing an internet-enabled device in violation of the policy. Other consequences are left to each school's policy.

The Sept. 1 Annual Enforcement Report

Beginning Sept. 1, 2026 and every Sept. 1 after, each district, charter school and BOCES must post on its website a report on the prior school year's enforcement. It must include:

• • Non-identifiable demographic data on the students disciplined for not complying with the policy.
• • An analysis of any demographic disparities in that discipline.
• • A mitigation action plan if a statistically significant disparate impact is found.

For the Sept. 1, 2027 report, which covers 2026–27, it helps to decide now how discipline for device violations is recorded, so the demographic breakdown can be produced without identifying students. That is a practical step, not a legal requirement.

New York Timeline

What Section 2803 Does Not Require

• • Limits on basic phones. Phones that cannot reach the internet are outside the definition.
• • A single storage product. Schools choose the storage method, as long as it is on site.
• • Rules for private schools. The law covers districts, charter schools and BOCES. Published phone policies from 30 New York private and independent schools, each with the handbook quote and source.

New York City Public Schools follow the same statute. Compare New York with Texas, California and every other state in our school phone laws by state tracker.

Buying for a New York School

Section 2803 sets what a school must provide, not who it buys from: one or more on-site storage methods for the school day. The statute names no products or vendors, and we found no state list of approved storage vendors. Districts buy under their usual procurement rules.

• • What counts as storage. The State Education Department's funding guidance lists lockable pouches, lockers, centralized secure storage, or other secure storage a school describes and justifies. Backpacks are not an allowable storage solution.
• • New York City. NYC Public Schools says each school provides its own storage, such as lockers, individual pouches or another secure system. A backpack counts only if it is kept in a closet or cubby students can't reach without permission, or the phone is in a storage pouch inside it.
• • The state money. The FY 2026 budget's $13.5 million went out by formula, $10.90 per student in grades 7–12, to districts, charter schools and BOCES that posted their policy and filed an attestation by Aug. 1, 2025. Allowed uses were storage, policy work, staff training, family outreach and other documented costs. As of October 2026 we found no later round announced.
• • Software. A phone lock is not storage, so it does not by itself meet § 2803. Budget for the storage first.

How New York districts are carrying it out

The law sets the floor; each district writes its own policy on top of it. Here is what large New York districts have adopted, from their own published policies:

• • New York City Public Schools: Under Chancellor’s Regulation A-413, devices are stored for the entire school day, including lunch, recess and study hall.
• • Buffalo Public Schools: Phones are stored in a secure, designated area from the first bell to final dismissal, smartwatches and iPads included.

Primary Sources

• • New York Education Law § 2803
• • Governor's office: New York State phone-free schools law
• • S3006-C, the FY 2026 budget bill
• • NYSED: 2025 Distraction-Free Schools guidance on funding
• • NYC Public Schools: cell phone and electronic device policy