Faculty, Administrators Report That New Cellphone Policy Working Well So Far at Pierson Middle High School

Several teachers and administrators provided an update on Monday night, September 18, on how Pierson Middle-High School students and faculty were adjusting to a new cellphone policy that was implemented at the start of the school year.

Chase Mallia, the head of the teachers union in the district, told the Sag Harbor School Board that he’s gotten positive feedback from the teachers about the district’s new partnership with Yondr, a company that makes magnetically locking pouches for cellphones to eliminate distractions at concerts and events — and, increasingly, in school districts.

At the end of the last school year, the district entered into a one-year deal with the company. Now, at the start of each school day, students turn their phones off and place them in the locked pouches, keep the pouches with them throughout the day, and then go to one of several stations in the building at the end of the day to have the pouch unlocked, so they can use their phones again.

The one-year contract cost roughly $10,900, with the pouch systems running $19 per student.

If the district chooses to renew next year, it would cost around $7,400 annually, although renewal year pricing is subject to change.

Mallia, Pierson Middle High School Principal Brittany Carriero and Superintendent of Schools Jeff Nichols all said that, overall, response to the new policy has been good.

“Students are actually talking to one another in the hallways and lunch room,” Mallia said, adding that teachers are reporting that students are much less likely to take unnecessary bathroom breaks, something several of them did frequently last year as a way to take five and scroll on their phones.

Nichols said the district worked through a few kinks the first few days of school, realizing that it only needed three locking and unlocking stations throughout the school instead of four.

Seniors are allowed to unlock the pouches and have access to their devices at their lunch period, during which time they’re allowed to leave the campus. Athletic Director Brian Tardif has been issued a locking and unlocking device as well, in order to accommodate any students who may have to leave school early as part of shared sports programs.

Nichols said he’s fielded a few calls from individual parents who don’t like the new policy, saying it amounts to an overreach when it comes to individual rights, but he said that, by and large, the new policy has been well-received.

Board member Jordana Sobey said she’s even heard positive feedback from a few students, who would likely be the toughest to sell on the new policy, with some students reportedly saying, “I’m not supposed to tell you I like it, but I do.”