July 30, 2025
Dear Batavia High School Parents:
I am writing to let you know about a change in the cell phone policy at Batavia High School which will be effective at the beginning of the upcoming 2025-2026 school year.
The quick version is that in order to be in compliance with a new State law passed this summer banning cell phones during the instructional day (House Bill 96), students must have their cell phones turned off and put away in a locker or backpack during the school day, which is the same policy the middle school moved to last school year and the policy that has continued to be in place at the elementary school for a number of years. Additional context on this change is below.
During the 2024-2025 school year, the Board of Education adopted a cell phone policy as required by House Bill 250, which expected all schools to adopt a policy that restricted cell phone use during the school day, but allowed for local flexibility in how the policy was written. The policy prohibited the use of cell phones during the school day in grades K-8, and prohibited cell phones at the high school with the exceptions of when authorized by a teacher, administrator, or during breaks between classes and at lunch.
On June 30, 2025, the Governor signed House Bill 96 into law. This bill removed the ability of school districts to establish local policies on cell phones, and instituted a statewide ban on cell phones during the instructional day beginning with this school year. While the official date for having a local Board policy that complies with this law is January 1, 2026, the decision has been made to begin the school year with no phones during the school day, as it makes no sense to start the school year one way to only have to switch to a new when students come back from winter break.
Removing the distractions of cell phones during the school day has been a growing nationwide movement in the past few years, with over 31 states currently requiring bans or restrictions on cell phone usage.
As every student has access to a Chromebook during the school day, there is no practical reason for needing a cell phone for instructional purposes. Also, while some schools are taking significant enforcement steps such as requiring locking phone pouches or the mandatory use of cell phone lockers, we are taking a more common sense approach, and simply expecting our students to have cell phones turned off and put away during the school day. Should there ever be an emergency that necessitated access to a cell phone, this approach to putting phones away strikes the right balance.
While this is a change that will take a little getting used to for our 10th to 12th grade students, our 9th graders will not know a difference, as they were not allowed to use cell phones during the day beginning last school year. In watching the transition to no cell phones at the middle school, once students got used to the policy, it really did bring positive change, especially in the amount and positive quality of face to face social interactions between students.
As adults, I believe we all are aware of how addictive cell phones can be, and the negative impact excessive cell phone usage can have on student emotional well being and academic success. This is especially pronounced in adolescents, and there is no shortage of data and studies about the harmful effects of cell phones on young people:
Studies on the Impact of Cellphones on Academics
School Smartphone Bans Reflect Growing Concern Over Youth Mental Health
Overall, the transition to no cell phones during the school day went very well at the middle school last year, and I believe that the high school will have the same positive experience this year.
Thank you for your support on this issue and for your ongoing support of Batavia Local Schools.
Keith