Beginning September 1, 2025, Sweet Home will be required to enforce the New York State adopted law 2803(2) to restrict the use of student-enabled devices including cell phones, wearables, and other internet-enabled devices. For more details, please read the full plan here.

Personal internet devices includes but is not limited to: smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, laptops, gaming-consoles, Fitbits, Google glasses, VR headsets, MP3 players, iPods, and iPads.

This requirement applies to the entire school day, including all instructional time, plus homeroom, lunch, recess, study hall, and time between classes. All school property is included in the law, this includes buildings, playgrounds, athletic fields, and all land within the school’s property lines.

Students who have specialized needs directly addressed in their IEP/504 plan or whose parent/guardian provides legal documentation of a need for a device will be exempt from these restrictions. For more information, please review the full plan.

Yes, the Distraction Free School Zone times range from the start of the regular school day to the end of the regular school day.

Yes, with staff permission students may be allowed to call parents from the classroom phone. 

No, all activities during the school day must be included within the Distraction-Free School Zone. This applies to every activity that takes place between the times of the start of school and the end of school. For internships specific to Ready Academy, students must keep their internet enabled devices off and away.

Schools will make arrangements for parent/guardian pick-ups. If a parent/guardian cannot collect their student’s internet enabled device(s) during a time when staff is available, the parent/guardian will be able to make arrangements for another trusted adult to collect the device(s).

All web-based applications must be accessed using the school assigned iPad device. All applications are vetted through a district process to ensure Education Law 2D compliance, which ensures we follow the guidelines for Personally Identifiable Information (PII) related to students.

Many models of FitBits operate like smart watches which are included in the Distraction Free School Zone Plan because they are internet enabled devices. 

The definition of a smartwatch is a portable wearable computer that resembles a wristwatch. Most modern smartwatches are operated via a touchscreen and rely on mobile apps that run on a connected device (such as a smartphone) to provide core functions. School staff will be able to easily identify which devices qualify as smartwatches or not. For these reasons, smartwatches are included on the prohibited devices list for the Distraction Free School Zone Plan, this includes smartwatches set to school mode or airplane mode.

 No, these types of devices are considered “basic devices that can’t connect to the internet.”

No, students may have and use their cell phones on the bus before and after school hours.

The safety of every student and staff member will always take precedence in an emergency situation. As quickly as possible, information regarding emergencies will be sent to parents/guardians. Every emergency is different and treated as such. It is important to understand that information must be accurate, therefore this will also impact the amount of time it takes to send messages regarding emergencies.

Currently, each school will identify 1-3 locations where students can use a school phone to communicate with parents. There is also an attendance email address that parents/guardians can use to get non-emergency information to their student. Parents/guardians may also call the school's main office and use existing apps such as See Saw (elementary) to reach out to the school staff. Sweet Home has committed to investigating other app options that will be made available and are in compliance with the regulations that govern student information sharing (Education Law 2D). 

Sweet Home is engaging with a technology company, THiNK Tech, as an option to support two way communication between parents/ guardians and students. More information will be provided as it is available.

This plan must be considered a partnership between the school, students, and parents/guardians. Students will not be permitted to use their personal internet-enabled device if their iPad is dead or damaged, therefore it will be important that students develop habits to support a fully charged iPad for the school day as well as managing an operational iPad. We will have to work together to help students in developing these habits if they do not already have them. A resource is the Smart pass system that is used at the middle school and high school, it can be managed through the teacher's iPad to allow students to obtain hall passes. In the event of a more global technical issue with a group of iPads, our tech team has the ability to address those issues quickly and remotely.

It will be important for the parent/guardian to inform their school administrator(s) that their student’s device will be left at home instead of turned in during the time period of the consequence.

Sweet Home Central has an extensive camera system at each school that will support the monitoring of halls and common areas.