Âé¶¹Ó°Ôº High students join governor's cell phone announcement

District contingent in attendance at Gov. Hochul's distraction-free schools announcement May 6

Governor Hochul made it official Tuesday – all New York public schools will be required to be smartphone-free environments beginning next school year – and three Âé¶¹Ó°Ôº students got to be a part of the announcement.

The governor announced that her plan to on Internet-enabled cell phones will take effect at the start of the 2025-26 school year. Each school district will be able to determine the procedures that best fit for their schools. A City School District of Âé¶¹Ó°Ôº committee has been working on these plans throughout the school year and will finalize details later this spring.

Âé¶¹Ó°Ôº High students Mwajumba Kabwe, Naya Snide and Xavier Soto attended the governor’s event at the Latham headquarters of New York State United Teachers.

Also representing the district at Tuesday's announcement were Board of Education President Sridar Chittur, Ph.D., Superintendent Joseph Hochreiter, Âé¶¹Ó°Ôº High Principal Jodi Commerford, Assistant Director of Pupil Personnel Services Karla McDowell, and Âé¶¹Ó°Ôº Public School Teachers Association President Laura Franz and Resolution Specialist Jim Grove.