Niagara Falls, N.Y. (WBEN) - A cell phone ban in New York State schools is one step closer to reality.
Gov. Kathy Hochul officially proposed it in her budget address Tuesday.
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Pending state legislature approval, it would ban the use of smartphones and other internet-enabled devices on school grounds during the school day. That includes classroom time, lunch and study hall periods.
"I'm surprised that it's bell-to-bell," said Mark Laurrie, Superintendent of Niagara Falls City Schools with WBEN on Wednesday. "I thought it would be more up to districts."
Bell-to-bell means from the start of school until the end of the day, and includes hallways and the cafeteria.
Many schools already have a no phone policy in classrooms, but Laurrie says
they have not enforced it in the cafeteria.
"That's going to be a game-changer," he said. "Put 500 students in two cafeterias and try to enforce it. It's going to be difficult."
The governor has proposed $13.5 million in state funding to help schools buy storage options.
Laurrie, who runs one of the largest districts in Western New York with 7,100 students, says he is going to look into some type of a locking pouch. He added that it won't be cheap.
"We may not need it for 7,000 students. It might be something we just need for the high school because right now we do a really good job with grades K-through-8. We have had very few infractions this year," Laurrie said.
He already knows, it's not going to be easy, especially with parents.
"There are going to be some parents who will say, 'My child needs that phone!' Even though we have 180 other phones at the high school, they need that personal device. Kids tell us that they need access to their phones for work," Laurrie said. "This is a lot more challenging in a large district than it seems on the surface."