GREENFIELD — As one potential solution to mitigating the distractions caused by cellphone use in the classroom, school officials are looking to a California company that provides magnetic cellphone pouches where students’ phones can be locked during the day.
“It is, to be very pragmatic, impossible to chase 500 students daily to put phones away,” Superintendent Christine DeBarge told School Committee members Wednesday night. “Not only is it impossible, but it’s a waste of highly valuable instructional time.”
Following a meeting with School Committee members Wednesday evening, DeBarge said she would like to allow members more time to consider the potential new program before she makes a decision on next steps, but from an educational standpoint, the administration “is actively trying to find a solution that allows students to better engage with their learning environment.”
DeBarge said cellphone use during school hours is connected, in part, to patterns of “disruptive behavior” School Committee members were informed about throughout the school year.
The pouches — which phones would be locked in as students enter the building each day — are backed by both acting Police Chief William Gordon and State Police Trooper James Carmichael, according to DeBarge.
The start-up cost is estimated at $16,000, which would cover students at the middle and high school levels. After that, the reoccurring cost would be about $12,000 per year, depending on student enrollment. The pouches are created by Yondr, headquartered in San Francisco.
“We need to improve access to education,” DeBarge said. “That’s why (students are) in the building during the day.”
Some School Committee members, however, are apprehensive about implementing such a change without input from parents.
“It’s a very big change, and I think I’m hearing the arguments in favor of it,” said School Committee member Glenn Johnson-Mussad. “I don’t know if there are others in the community … with differing opinions.”
In response to a question about the possible downsides to the new program, or if there were any unintended negative consequences she had considered, DeBarge said existing phone lines are being improved so families have the means to contact students in case of emergencies.
DeBarge also spoke about the concern over students having difficulty separating from their phones.
In speaking with Yondr representatives, one of the ways to address that “was to recommend we wait until the second or third week of school, so we could prepare kids … and get them ready for what the environment would look like with the change,” she said.
School Committee member Elizabeth Deneeve said she couldn’t support the measure without hearing input from parents. Putting phones in a pouch and calling it done, she said, isn’t enough.
“This isn’t where you start,” she said. “You start with teaching self-discipline. … I agree that (phones) are a nuisance and are interfering with education — I get it.”
Echoing Deneeve, School Committee member Kate Martini said she would feel more comfortable supporting the program after hearing input from families.
“I can’t say I would feel comfortable with my child not having the ability to reach me,” she said.
DeBarge said the district is approaching the issue of self-control in other ways, particularly through its social-emotional curriculum. She also said she understands it may not be an idea all parents immediately support.
“We have substantial academic needs in the district,” she said. “We have attendance needs and we have to address student behavior. I appreciate that parents may not love the idea, but we are charged with instructing students.”
She added that in situations where adults in the building have had to address phones, students have gotten “verbally abusive and profane.”
School Committee member Jean Wall spoke in support of the program, noting that taking phones out of the equation would help to reduce bullying among students.
“You have to go for the good of the community, not the good of the individual,” she said.
Although members weren’t ready to vote to endorse the administration’s plans to buy the cases from Yondr, they did vote unanimously to task the Policy and Program Subcommittee with creating a cellphone policy for the school district that complements the efforts “toward improving the learning environment for and social-emotional well-being” of students.
School Committee Chair Amy Proietti clarified that as this would be considered an “operational tool,” the administration does not need to wait for a School Committee endorsement to move forward with the purchase.
Reporter Mary Byrne can be reached at mbyrne@recorder.com or 413-930-4429. Twitter: @MaryEByrne.