Students are permitted to bring certain electronic devices to school. (See the list below for devices covered by this policy.) However, in order to prevent disruption of classroom instruction and preserve a learning environment throughout our school, students may not use these devices, or have them in their possession, while on school grounds.

Students may not have electronic devices on their person while on school grounds

• Students must make sure their devices are turned off and stored in their backpacks (for grades K through 5) or lockers (for grades 6 through 8).
• If any electronic device is seen on your child’s person on school grounds, it will be confiscated by any school personnel and held in the school office. (Middle school students may have the devices on their persons at arrival and dismissal, in order to take them to their lockers.)
• This policy applies during afterschool programming as well.

School trips: middle school (grades 6-8)

• This policy applies before, during, and after school trips.
• Depending on the nature and location of a school trip, middle school students may be permitted to bring electronic devices with them. For any trip where electronic devices are permitted, both students and parents must sign and return the PS/IS 217 Electronic Device Policy for Field Trips.
• Students are responsible for their own actions with their electronic devices and must follow school policies.
• In particular, students may not use their devices while traveling to or from the trip destination. Students may not use their devices to communicate with others (including texting, telephoning, or using social media) in a way that detracts from the school trip. Students may not play music too loudly. Any electronic device used in these behaviors will be immediately confiscated by school staff.

Violations

• We are required to enter any inappropriate use of an electronic device, such as those listed above, on school grounds or on school trips into our Online Occurrence Reporting System (OORS).
• Any student who refuses to turn over a device to any school personnel will be subject to a disciplinary consequence for insubordination, a violation of the New York City Department of Education Discipline Code, which will be entered into OORS as a second offense.
• If any electronic device is heard in class by school personnel and no one surrenders a device, a search of bags will be initiated. Any middle school student found with an electronic device will have it confiscated.

Confiscated devices

• It is the student’s responsibility to notify a parent or guardian if a device has been confiscated.
• A student whose device has been confiscated for the first time may retrieve the device from the school office at the end of the day. School staff will call the student’s parents or guardians to inform them that the student violated this policy.
• For any student who has violated this policy a second time, the student’s parent, guardian, or other person listed on the student’s blue card must retrieve the device from the school office. The person picking up the device should call Ms. Crystal to arrange a time to retrieve it. The school will send home a letter informing the parent or guardian of the confiscation.
• For any student who has two or more previous violations, the device may only be retrieved by a parent or guardian on the following Friday. A parent may make arrangements with Ms. Beckman for an earlier pickup in extraordinary circumstances.

Testing

• If a student’s device is seen or heard during testing, the test will be considered invalid and not scored. No make-ups will be allowed.

Responsibility

• The school is not responsible or liable if any device is lost, stolen, or damaged, whether it is in the possession of students, in a student’s locker or backpack, or held by school personnel.

Covered devices

• This policy applies to 1) mobile phones; 2) laptop computers and tablets (such as iPads); 3) portable music and entertainment devices (such as iPods or MP3 players); 4) wearable electronic devices with similar capabilities (such as Apple Watches); and 5) any similar electronic devices.
• Electronic book readers—that is, devices that can be used only for downloading and reading books—may be used in classrooms with the teacher’s permission, or elsewhere on school grounds as permitted in the discretion of school personnel.