New Jersey Pays Schools to Restrict or Ban Cellphones

(TNS) — School districts in all 21 New Jersey counties are receiving grants under a new state program aimed at toughening cellphone restrictions for students, officials said.

Around $980,000 is being awarded to 86 districts, including 15 charter schools, under the Phone-Free Schools Grant Program, according to the New Jersey Department of Education.

The program was announced Oct. 1, two weeks after a New Jersey commission urged all schools to prohibit students from using cellphones and social media during the school day.

Districts getting the grants will use the funding to implement policies banning cellphones and other electronic devices bell-to-bell, which means prohibiting use during the entire school day, for students in grades 6 through 12, officials said.

They may use the funding to implement secure storage systems such as lockers, locked pouch systems, or check-in cabinets. They may also use it to train employees on ensuring “consistent and equitable application of the bell-to-bell policies,” officials said.

Gov. Phil Murphy said that removing cellphones from schools “helps educators, it helps parents, and most of all, it helps our kids.”

“If we want to provide New Jersey’s children with a world-class education, we need to give schools the tools necessary to remove the very distractions that rob students of their attention and their concentration,” Murphy said.

The largest grant, $52,451, is being awarded to the Union City School District in Hudson County. Several received $1,000, the lowest amount.

Many of New Jersey’s approximately 600 public school districts already restrict cellphone use in classrooms but the policies and punishments vary. Some require students to keep their phones off and out of sight, while others provide locations for the devices to be stored during the school day.

Below is a list of the districts receiving grants:

ATLANTIC COUNTY

• Absecon Public Schools District  — $2,499.80
• Egg Harbor Township School District  — $32,513.74
• Pleasantville Public School District  — $15,220.18

BERGEN COUNTY

• Alpine School District  — $1,000.00
• Englewood Public School District  — $12,910.48
• Ramsey School District  — $10,730.80
• Wallington Boro School District  — $5,015.22

BURLINGTON COUNTY

• Florence Township School District  — $6,875.64
• Pemberton Township School District  — $14,991.50
• Springfield Township School District  — $1,000.00
• Willingboro Public School District  — $14,323.38

CAMDEN COUNTY

• Black Horse Pike Regional School District  — $27,961.44
• Gloucester City Public School District  — $10,823.52
• KIPP:  Cooper Norcross  (NJ Nonprofit) — $10,820.00
• Sterling Regional School District  — $6,872.32

CAPE MAY COUNTY

• Ocean City School District  — $10,290.38

CUMBERLAND COUNTY

• Cumberland Regional School District  — $9,950.00
• Deerfield Township School District  — $1,000.00

ESSEX COUNTY

• East Orange School District  — $36,651.12
• Essex Regional Educational Services Commission  — $1,000.00
• Irvington Public School District  — $27,928.40
• Newark Public School District  — $176,625.08
• Orange Public Schools  — $23,469.10
• South Orange–Maplewood School District — $28,257.02

GLOUCESTER COUNTY

• Clayton Public School District  — $5,984.92
• Glassboro School District  — $7,971.32
• Logan Township School District  — $2,074.34
• Paulsboro School District  — $5,342.60

HUDSON COUNTY

• Guttenberg School District  — $2,723.42
• Harrison Public Schools  — $10,633.30
• Union City School District  — $52,451.18
• Weehawken Public School District  — $5,630.00

HUNTERDON COUNTY

• Bethlehem Township School District  — $1,000.00
• Bloomsbury Borough School District  — $1,000.00
• Frenchtown Borough School District  — $1,000.00

MERCER COUNTY

• Trenton Public School District  — $55,573.44

MIDDLESEX COUNTY

• Carteret Public School District  — $17,028.14
• South Amboy School District  — $5,286.72

MONMOUTH COUNTY

• Asbury Park School District  — $5,156.96
• Belmar Elementary School District  — $1,000.00

MORRIS COUNTY

• Chester Township School District  — $2,696.84
• Hanover Park Regional High School District  — $10,046.46
• Hanover Township School District  — $3,280.00
• Kinnelon School District  — $6,988.18
• Mendham Borough School District  — $1,282.54

OCEAN COUNTY

• Central Regional School District  — $17,208.26
• Pinelands Regional School District  — $12,624.88
• Tuckerton Borough School District  — $1,000.00

PASSAIC COUNTY

• Hawthorne Public School District  — $8,753.46
• Lakeland Regional High School District  — $6,691.98
• West Milford Township Public School District  — $13,094.62

SALEM COUNTY

• Alloway Township School District  — $1,000.00
• Mannington Township School District  — $1,000.00
• The Lower Alloways Creek School District  — $1,000.00
• Penns Grove–Carney’s  Point Regional School District  — $9,271.32
• Salem City School District  — $5,570.72
• Upper Pittsgrove Township School District  — $1,000.00
• Woodstown–Pilesgrove Regional School District — $6,892.62

SOMERSET COUNTY

• Warren Township School District  — $4,384.98

SUSSEX COUNTY

• Andover Regional School District  — $1,203.88
• Frankford Township Consolidated School District  — $1,246.92
• Hampton Township School District  — $1,000.00
• Kittatinny Regional School District  — $5,686.00
• Lenape Valley Regional High School District  — $5,520.22
• Montague Township School District  — $1,000.00
• Sandyston–Walpack Consolidated School District — $1,000.00

UNION COUNTY

• Hillside Public School District  — $12,359.60
• Plainfield Public School District  — $34,337.56
• Roselle Public School District  — $13,937.70
• Township of  Union School District  — $33,747.70

WARREN COUNTY

• Belvidere School District  — $3,176.64

CHARTER SCHOOLS

• Bergen Arts  and  Science Charter School  — $5,489.02
• Empowerment Academy Charter School  — $5,769.46
• Gateway Academy Charter School  — $4,367.16
• Golden Door Charter School  — $1,426.32
• Great Oaks Legacy Charter School  — $9,022.78
• Hoboken Charter School  — $1,322.16
• Hudson Arts  and  Science Charter School  — $3,061.00
• Jersey City Global Charter School  — $1,000.00
• Maria L. Varisco-Rogers Charter School  — $1,490.44
• Pace Charter School  — $1,201.96
• Passaic Arts and Science Charter School  — $9,487.54
• Paterson Arts  and  Science Charter School  — $5,232.58
• Paterson Charter School  for Science and Technology — $7,308.00
• Team Academy Charter School  — $24,752.62
• Thrive Charter School  — $2,876.00

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