NYC schools are banning cellphones this year: What you need to know

When New York City public schools reopen this fall, many students will face a new directive: Put your phones away until the end of the school day .

About half of the 1,600 schools in the nation’s largest district already instituted cellphone policies before this academic year. In coming weeks, those schools — and hundreds others yet to regulate the devices — must come into compliance with new state guidelines meant to crack down on distractions at school.

The Daily News heard from top education officials, reviewed dozens of pages of internal guidance and city and state FAQs , attended public meetings, and obtained a recording of a closed-door discussion before a key vote to amend the local regulation .

Here’s what we know about how the ban will be implemented in the city’s pub