Amid community concerns, Rye City School District officials are spending part of the summer reviewing the district’s policies surrounding technology in the classroom.
Participants of recent Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO) meetings voiced worries about screen time in the classroom, kids still having access to restricted platforms, and the potential for dips in academic achievement. The feedback prompted the district to conduct an internet use audit in an effort to better understand how technology is being used in the classroom.
“Many parents are concerned about games, in addition to chatting on (Google) Docs and other activities,” Liza Forbes, a Rye resident with two children at Milton Elementary School, told the Board of Education during its end-of-year meeting in June.
“Kids are exhausted from the gamification of apps and resisting the constant distractions and notifications,” she added. “So in addition to learning academics in school, we’re helping our kids build cognitive foundations for the rest of their lives.”
Starting this school year, New York state implemented bell-to-bell cellphone bans in public schools in an effort to curb distracted learning and increase positive mental health outcomes.
Although students are no longer allowed to have cellphones in the classroom, Rye Schools Director of Technology Kaitlyn Sassone said some kids were still “persistently trying” to access blocked sites – including Snapchat, ESPN, and SoundCloud. While they mostly tried to access these sites on school-issued devices, some kids also have tried to hack the system using personal device hotspots and virtual private networks (VPNs).
The audit, which was conducted from mid-May to mid-June, only measured data from the district’s wireless network – meaning officials couldn’t analyze any internet activity on personal devices.
“We looked at all of the apps or the tools that they’re accessing,” Schools Superintendent Tricia Murray told parents at the June 16 Board of Education meeting, “and the content is appropriate, because our filters wouldn’t allow anything that’s not appropriate.”
Snapchat, for example, is blocked by filtering systems, ensuring compliance with district internet safety policies.
The “not approved” app students tried accessing most was Quizlet, a tool created for studying that has a national reputation for serving as a shortcut for tests and homework. Because users can post and share answers publicly, users could potentially find direct answers for graded assignments or look up exam questions.
“I think that there are things that students are trying to access that could be distracting their learning,” Murray said, “and that’s something we have to be on top of.”
On the school network, the district found elementary students’ screen time averaged 10-45 minutes per school day. At the secondary level, kids spent an average of 60-90 minutes per day on screens.
Both parents and board members discussed whether these averages are healthy for students.
“My fourth grader recently learned about the Revolutionary War, and her project was to create a Google video,” Forbes said. “I personally think that learning to write an outline and maybe a short essay … may have been more beneficial for her learning.”
While the district audit captured a snapshot of screen time and the sites students have been accessing, parents said they want school officials to expand their audit to encompass a longer sample period, as well include data about how exactly kids are using sites and apps.
District officials recognized the parents’ concerns, but added they haven’t noted decreases in academic achievement in test scores for English language arts or math. In fact, from 2015 to 2025, passing test scores in both subjects rose by more than 20 percent.
“This is a pretty significant increase over a 10-year period,” said Lauren Santabarbara, assistant superintendent for curriculum, instruction, and assessment. “So, technology, as we’ve been sharing, is an extremely thoughtful design in our instruction.”
Even with test scores showing improvement over the last decade, however, the district has committed to more closely examining best technology practices – last month laying out their philosophies and methodologies in a blueprint.
“Based on that review, the district has established updated K–12 technology best practices and is implementing several refinements to promote more intentional, balanced use of technology,” Murray told The Record.
She added the district will adhere to the refined policies “while increasing ongoing monitoring to ensure digital tools enhance learning and support students’ academic, social, and emotional development.”
