On October 16th, Fair Grove School’s Board Members held a School Board meeting to discuss a variety of topics, one of those being the district cell phone policy. During this board meeting Dr. Overstreet presented a new cell phone policy.
Overstreet started off the policy discussion by stating that the schools priority is student safety and to protect instructional time.
Fair Grove Schools current phone policy is that “students are not to have their cell phones or smart watches out during the instructional day,” as stated in the High School Handbook. Currently, students may use their phones during lunch and between classes for grades 9-12, but this will change after the implementation of the new phone policy.
Middle school students are not allowed to use their phones at any time during the school day. Violation of the cell phone policy for middle school students results in their phones being confiscated, delivered to the office, and picked up at the end of the school day by their parents.
Overstreet explained that during the previous school year he had done classroom observations and noticed phones were being used during the students instructional time and additionally he had received frustration from multiple teachers who found phones to be disruptive while trying to teach.
Amy Johnson, the history department head at Fair Grove schools, stated that in her classroom, “Cell phones are a daily/hourly issue I have to address in almost every class. Many times, students are trying to sneak their phones out and I have to take class time to address it. Students become more focused on a text/notification that they feel they have to respond to instead of focusing on class.”
Johnson continued, “Students also try to listen to music via airpods/wireless headphones while I am giving instructions and are not fully listening. Then I have to spend time repeating myself/answering the same questions to students that did not pay attention the first time. That takes away time I could be focusing on specific student needs or teaching.”
With this information Overstreet stated that Yondr would be a long term solution to this issue making it a reasonable investment for the school. Yondr will also keep students focused on their teacher by eliminating distraction by their phones.
The Yondr program, a secure bag that uses a magnetic locking device to store student mobile devices, explained on their website, “Yondr program creates phone-free spaces for artists, educators, organizations, and individuals.”
The school purchased the Yondr pouches for $20,000 and each student will receive their own personal pouch with no charge, however if the student damages their pouch they will receive a $30 damage fee.
The Yondr pouches are fabric pouches with a magnetic seal to ensure students do not remove their phones from their pouches. Students will be able to unlock their pouches at the end of the school day using an unlocking device that will be kept in the front office, Ag building, and distributed to select teachers.
The new cell phone policy that will be put into effect on January 7th, 2025, and all students, grades 5th-12th will be required to comply with the new policy.
Students with medical or legal exemptions to this policy will be given a velcro pouch to allow access to their phones when needed.
With the phones being in Yondr pouches all information will be given to students by teachers, over the school intercom, and through their student emails. If students or parents need to contact each other the front office phones will be available for making phone calls.
Violation of the new school cell phone policy on a first offense will result in two days of ISS and parents will need to pick up their child’s phone after the school day. Second offense will result in 3 days of ISS, parents will need to pick up the cell phone after school, and for the remainder of the school year the students phone will be required to stay in the front office each day.
The phone policy will be enforced on January 7th at the start of the second semester.
