Here’s a look at CT schools that got phones out of classrooms. The governor wants them all out.

Gov. Ned Lamont recently called on Connecticut school superintendents to “ get the smartphones out of the classroom by this fall.”

While the Lamont Administration prepares to release a new model policy for student phone use on Aug. 21, more schools in Connecticut than ever are turning to phone-locking technology and holder systems to foster distraction-free environments as parents and staff sound the alarm on cell phone and social media addiction.

Here is a look at how three Connecticut principals are implementing phone-free learning, and how the school communities are responding.

Betances STEM Magnet School and Yondr pouches

When Betances STEM Magnet School in Hartford made phone locking Yondr pouches mandatory for its fifth through eighth graders in December of 2022, Principal Anthony Brooks the “frequency office discipline referrals just fell off a cliff.”

After implementing the locking pouches, which prevent students from using their devices during the day, Betances said the school saw a reduction in not only phone-related school referrals but all behavioral and disciplinary offenses.

According to Brooks, office referrals dropped by 50% and suspensions fell by 30% to 40%.

“If I take a look at the problems that we were experiencing before implementing the pouches and this past year, it’s night and day,” Brooks said.

Betances STEM was the first school in Hartford to adopt the Yondr technology. Julia Skrobak, the assistant director of communications and marketing for Hartford Public Schools said the district purchased 5,400 Yondr pouches at a “significant discount” after previously renting the pouches. Skrobak said 11 schools will participate in the Yondr program this year.

According to Yondr, each student receives their own individual pouch. After placing their phone inside the bag and snapping the pouch closed, the device remains secure throughout the day until students place the pouch on a Yondr “unlocking base” during dismissal.

Brooks said students are free to personalize their pouches, which they bring from home to school each day. In case a student forgets their bag, Brooks said the school keeps a stockpile of extra Yondr pouches.

Months before implementation, Brooks made the conscious decision to “over-communicate” to parents, teachers, students and staff the reasons for the new policy and assuage their concerns.

“We wanted to maximize instructional time and we wanted to build and maintain positive relationships,” Brooks said. “(That) was critical in terms of our implementation and the consistency.”

Brooks said he marketed the pouches as a “tool that was going to help us and help our students, adhere to the district’s out-of-sight policy for cell phones.”

Lamont: CT schools going to get ‘smartphones out of the classroom by this fall’

Brooks said students and teachers are seeing the positive results.

“Students (are) more engaged (and) more connected to their learning and to each other,” Brooks said. “in general, (there is) just a more positive effect on school culture and climate.”

Brookfield High School and phone holders

After receiving a $36,000 quote for 1,000 Yondr pouches and implementation resources, Brookfield High School Principal Marc Balanda started looking for an alternative solution to get “learning time back and (reduce) distractions” among phone-obsessed students.

“It’s an addiction,” Balanda said. “We definitely are seeing a level of learning loss and (a) loss of attention when kids have their phones on them, even if they’re not necessarily using them minute-to-minute through the classroom.”

The school settled on a solution for this fall. Each classroom will be equipped with numbered phone holders that cost roughly $12 each. When students enter class, they will receive an assigned number and place their silenced-phone, in the pouch. The students retrieve their devices at the end of the class period.

“This is going to be a new thing for them. So we’re not looking to punish, we’re looking to educate and try to help kids meander through this new policy,” Balanda said.

Balanda said students will be permitted to use their phones during passing time, lunch periods and study halls. However, he said that could change if Brookfield chooses to adapt its policies.

“This is a step, a small step in the direction that we think is going to help us,” Balanda said. “I understand the benefit of taking away (phones) from kids for the whole day and what that could do, but at the same time, we also have to teach kids responsibly how to use their phones as devices.”

Balanda said he is hopeful new phone-free policies will result in benefits beyond the classroom.

“We have a responsibility as a school to educate, but also help kids learn how to use them responsibly and try to take care of their mental health,” Balanda said. “Cell phones are a part of life…we have to find a way to use them appropriately.”

Masuk High School and phone lockers

In Monroe, Principal Steven Swensen said Masuk High School is implementing a phone-free system that mirrors Brookfield’s protocols, but instead of placing phones in a pouch, Masuk students will place their devices in an assigned slot in a phone cabinet.

Swensen said Masuk opted for the cabinet for several reasons. It was significantly cheaper than individual Yondr pouches. The cabinets are locked to provide an added layer of security, and they can easily be carried out of the classroom by a teacher in the event of an evacuation.

Swensen said Masuk purchased 80 cell phone cabinets for this school year. Like Brookfield, the school policies allow students to use their phone during pass times, study halls and lunch, but their use during academic periods are restricted.

Swensen said that for years, phone-distracted kids made up the minority of students. As the problem has grown, Swenson said the ratio has flipped.

“Teachers were constantly fighting that battle of put it away, put it away, put it away,” Swensen said. “I think it got to the point where the kids truly, they’re addicted. If they have a free minute. they have to look at it. When I was in class, if I had a free minute I would talk to my neighbor, they’re not doing that. They’re looking at their phones.”

While Swensen said teachers advocated for a full-day ban, the lockers seemed like the most manageable and financially reasonable solution for Masuk.

Swensen said that the district has had a phone free policy in place, but this is the first time it is taking a school-wide steps to remove phones during class.

“If kids could do it on their own, our policy as it stood would have been effective. It wasn’t,” Swensen said. “More schools are now looking to do the exact same thing because we recognize it’s too much of a distraction for kids.”

Opposition and support

Masuk junior Emma McIntyre and her friends are bracing for the adjustment.

“We all think it’s a little bit crazy,” McIntyre said.

In her AP and honors classes, McIntrye said phone use is not that big of an issue. When she does see students on their phones during lessons she said “the only person they’re hurting is themselves.”

McIntyre said that when she finds herself reaching for the phone during the school day, it’s to listen to music to boost her focus, or to reach out to friends to plan a spot to meet before lunch, or to text her mom for words of reassurance before a big test.

“I wish that they considered more of just being able to contact family, especially for people who get very stressed out or like anxious,” McIntyre said. “It’s very comforting to be able to talk to people.”

McIntyre said that the idea of having her phone completely taken away, does not sit right.

“Especially in an emergency, I can’t call my parents. They don’t have a way to contact me and I don’t like that idea,” McIntrye said.

As phone-free policies spread to schools public and private schools throughout the state, parents and students have voiced similar safety concerns in online petitions asking districts to reconsider their policies.

Some argue that the purported benefits of phone-locking technology are not worth the financial cost to school districts and that strict policies infringe on rights of students and impede trust-based relationships. Others say phones can serve as life-saving tools to alert first responders in the event of an emergency.

While many push for the removal of phone bans, others are encouraging districts to adopt no-phone policies.

Adam Potter, a father of two incoming sixth-graders, started a petition to make Greenwich Public Schools phone-free. With less than two months online, more than 750 people have signed on to support the cause.

Potter said that in his town, buying your child a phone for sixth-grade is the norm. He said his family is looking into buying “dumb” phones that allow calls and texts but block internet access and social media sites.

“To me it’s important that we protect our kids as best as we can,” Potter said. “Mental health, that’s almost number one, but there’s also other concerns about how much time they spend on the phone. I’d rather have them going outside and playing and being social with other kids.”

Potter said he is hopeful the Greenwich Board of Education will be receptive to the calls for greater phone restrictions.

“This is an issue that’s not, Democrat, Republican, independent — It is an issue that all of our kids are face,” Potter said

Potter said that he would love to see statewide legislation banning phones on schools and school buses.

“I just think that’s really important for the overall development and well-being of our kids,” Potter said. “It’d be great if Governor Lamont could do something like that, or the legislature could do something like that. If not, we’re going to continue to work to push our school board and hopefully others.”