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City School District of Albany Superintendent Joseph Hochreiter and Albany Public School Teachers’ Association president Laura Franz joined Gov. Kathy Hochul and local teachers, administrators and elected leaders on Monday to discuss the use of smartphones during school.

Monday’s meeting at Guilderland High School was the first stop on the governor’s statewide “listening tour” on curbing excessive student cell phone use in school. Also on hand for the discussion were Assemblymembers Pat Fahy and John McDonald and Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan.

Two district schools restrict cell phone use during the school day: Giffen Memorial Elementary School (grades 4-5) and Tony Clement Center for Education.

This fall, Superintendent Hochreiter will convene a task force to student cell phone use during the school day.

The district’s task force will be chaired by Assistant Director of Student Support Services Karla McDowell, North Albany Middle School Assistant Principal Emma Steckman and Giffen Social Worker Herman Calderon. The task force will include students, administrators, teachers, parents/guardians and more. It will start meeting in September and report to the superintendent in January 2025.  

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