A state court case over the constitutionality of the city ban on cellphones in public schools was put on hold yesterday in light of a new plan to allow students to store their phones in lockers for a small fee.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Lewis Bart Stone postponed oral arguments until Jan. 18 at the request of lawyers for a group of parents who say the ban endangers kids.
The Department of Education said it remained “committed to the policy of prohibiting the possession of cellphones in New York City schools.” News of the locker plan was reported exclusively this week in The Post. A private vendor would install coin-operated lockers outside a handful of schools and maintain the facilities at no cost to the city. Students would be expected to check their phones in the lockers for 25 or 50 cents a day.
The plan would start next fall and last a year, so the DOE could decide whether to expand it to middle and high schools.
“The fact that the DOE is exploring the pilot project confirms and validates what parents have been saying – that there is a reasonable alternative to the ban,” said plaintiff cocounsel Norman Siegel.