Budget likely to include Hochul’s school smartphone restrictions

Restrictions on students’ access to smartphones during the school day will likely be part of the state budget, according to Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie.

During a discussion with reporters at the Capitol on Thursday, the Bronx Democrat said that negotiations over smartphones in schools were “just about done” and that they were heading toward a “bell to bell” restriction model. Asked how it compared to the plan championed by Gov. Kathy Hochul, he said it was “pretty much the same, but with some tweaks.”

There has been a broad consensus among state policymakers that something should be done about access to smartphones in schools, but there have been disagreements over local control, when the restrictions should apply, and who should be responsible for enforcement.

The governor and New York State United Teachers have been pushing broad language that would limit the enforcement responsibilities for teachers and apply from the start of the day until the end. As recently as last week, groups representing schools boards and superintendents were encouraging lawmakers to retain more flexibility for school districts.

Heading into the end of the fiscal year on March 31, Heastie had indicated smartphones restrictions were one of the four outstanding issues being pushed by the governor that still needed to be resolved. On Thursday, he indicated they were down to three main sticking points.