HORNELL, N.Y. (WENY) -- Students will be heading back to school soon, but students in the Hornell City School District will be going back without their cell phones.  Students and parents were told about this change at the end of last school year, and the first day of the new policy will be September 5th when school starts.

"We still had some social challenges with people sharing, posting, doing various things that just really distracted from the overall learning environment, and so the overall removal of that just across the board just seemed to make the most logical sense," said Jeremy Palotti, the superintendent of the Hornell City School District.

From 8:05 a.m to 3:03 p.m, phones are to remain in students lockers.  Last year, the district used 'red' and 'green' zones as a guide for where cell phones could be used.  This year, its a total no go for phones.

"For the last several years it's been an ongoing distraction.  Cell phones, smart phones, devices as such have just been really distracting for kids, really distracting them from learning from their sole purpose here. And really you know the challenges that we've seen have grown and grown and grown over time and we've implemented different strategies, different ways to kind of mitigate the situation," said Palotti.

Smart watches, headphones, and earbuds are also included in this policy.  Students in the Hornell City School District will still be able to use their school provided device during the day.

"Similar to any other rule or expectation that we have with students, we're just going to be consistent across the board, and we know we might have some bumps in the road as we as we start off the school year," said Palotti.  "I'm confident that our faculty staff and administration will uphold kind of our expectations and our students will do just fine as we roll into this kind of new normal."

This move comes as Governor Kathy Hochul has been hosting roundtables on tackling smartphone use in schools.  Hochul said she wants young people to learn and grow, instead of click and scroll.  Palotti said HCSD's cell phone ban is not a result of Hochul's roundtable, rather just coincidence.

If parents need to contact their kids during the school day, the district said parents can contact the main office if need be.  Also, parents are encouraged to contact the district with any questions that they may have regarding this new policy.