Auburn School Board to Hold Public Hearing on Strengthening School Cell Phone Policy

The Auburn Enlarged City School Board will hold a public hearing on proposed changes to the district's electronic device policy on Tuesday, July 25 at 5:00 p.m. at the Harriet Tubman Administration Building.

“Members of the school board have been increasingly concerned with the impact that cell phone use in school has had on students' mental health and ability to learn. We're looking for public input on how to best address these issues heading into the next school year.” said Ian Phillips, Auburn's School Board President.

Current district policy states that use of personal electronic devices are strictly prohibited except for certain authorized uses, in practice however, current policy is difficult to uniformly enforce.

Members of the Board have considered how to best address concerns about widespread usage of cellphones in schools for several years with discussions beginning in earnest over the latter part of the school year and into the summer.  The Board's policy committee drafted changes and presented them to a district stakeholder committee that met July 3rd. The public hearing represents the next step in the process to gather more community input.

Cell phone usage in schools has been under increased scrutiny in recent years with a recent report by the US Surgeon General being the latest example. Auburn would join several other New York districts if they strengthen limits on use of cell phones in schools.