NEW YORK, NY February 07, 2008 —The ban on cell phones in the city's public schools is about the convenience of police officers moving students through metal detectors - that's what lawyers for a parents' group told an appeals court yesterday.

Attorney Norman Siegel wants the court to lift the ban. He said students carried cell phones until April 2006, when police began using metal detectors to deter weapons possession.

Police confiscated hundreds of phones and parents began battling the Education Department's no-phone policy.

Eight parents sued the Education Department in 2006, challenging the ban.

No decision yet from the 5 judge Appellate Division panel.