Montclair Will Delay Plan To Lock Up Students' Phones During Class

MONTCLAIR, NJ — Administrators in the Montclair Public School District are hitting the pause button on a plan to make students lock up their phones while class is in session.

Montclair officials recently announced that the district would roll out a new pilot program at four schools when classes resume after the summer break. The goal? To make classrooms “phone-free” while they’re in session.

The program was slated to take place at Buzz Aldrin Middle School, Glenfield Middle School, Renaissance Middle School and Montclair High School. But with the first day of class for students just around the bend, kids and teens in the district have apparently gotten a temporary reprieve – for now.

Interim Superintendent Damen Cooper said the plan is being postponed to give a chance for more discussion and feedback from parents – and to lay out a blueprint for the district’s other schools.

“We need to have more conversation as well as making sure all schools have a plan to implement, so it is successful,” Cooper said at the Montclair Board of Education meeting on Aug. 12.

The new target date? When students return from holiday break in January, he added.

The district’s former superintendent, Jonathan Ponds – who died unexpectedly last month –offered a glimpse of the plan in his recent year-end recap to the community. Read More: Montclair Superintendent Gives End-Of-Year School Highlights

According to Ponds, the district was going to partner with a private company on the experiment, Yondr, which provides similar services for other school districts (as well as concert venues and other public spaces).

Here’s how it works, according to the company’s website:

• ARRIVAL – “Upon entering the phone-free space, your phone will be placed inside a Yondr pouch.”
• SECURE – “Once inside the phone-free area, the pouch is locked. You will maintain possession of your phone at all times.”
• OPEN – “To use your phone at any time, step outside the phone-free zone and tap your pouch on an unlocking base.”

“District leadership along with building leadership and staff have reviewed research and are working on ways to implement this pilot,” Ponds wrote, adding that the board of education’s policy committee is evaluating the district’s cell phone policies for the K-12 levels.

According to the district’s website, the use and activation of cell phones and other electronic devices for “reasons other than instruction” is currently prohibited during school hours in Montclair’s public schools.

Permission for use and/or activation can be granted by the classroom teacher on a case-by-case basis. Devices not in use must be silenced and “stored safely out of sight.” Devices used and/or activated in violation of the district’s policy can be confiscated.

The district’s policy continues:

“The Board of Education recognizes technology is always changing and as a result of increased accessibility to technology many pupils possess technology devices for their use during non-school hours. These privately-owned (BYOD) devices may be beneficial to pupils during school hours for approved educational purposes. The use of privately-owned technology (BYOD) by a pupil in the educational program during the school day must be approved by the pupil's parent or legal guardian and the school teaching staff member responsible for supervising and/or providing the pupil's instructional program. A teaching staff member may approve a pupil's use of privately-owned technology based on the assignment to the pupil. The teaching staff member may also prohibit the use of privately-owned technology for an assignment. Any use of privately-owned technology by a pupil shall be in strict accordance with the teaching staff member's specific approval and board policies and regulations. Any violation will subject the pupil to appropriate discipline and/or grading consequences, and the privately-owned device(s) in violation may be confiscated.”

It isn’t only school districts that are using Yondr to go “phone-free.”

When Bob Dylan played a show last year at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, he hit the stage with a caveat: the use of phones, smart watches and accessories wasn’t permitted in the performance space.

• See Related: Bob Dylan’s Concerts In At NJPAC Will Be ‘Phone-Free Experiences’

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