The Newburgh Board of Education voted 8-1 last week to execute an agreement with Yondr, Inc for the 2023-2024 school year for new phone usage deterrent pouches with additional accessories.

Yondr pouches are designed to contain, while limiting access to, cell phones. These pouches have been used in several reported school settings along with entertainment venues for performers such as comedian Dave Chappelle.

Once the cell phone is placed inside the pouch, the pouch is locked for the time of the event or day. While the cell phone is locked away, the pouch will remain with that person as it is their property.

If a cell phone starts to ring or vibrate, then that person will need to access an unlocking base. An unlocking base, similar to devices that remove magnetic tags from clothes in stores, will open the pouch so as to access the cell phone.

The unlocking bases are placed in locations that will take the person away from the phone free area to use the cell phone. The cell phone will then go back into the pouch before re-entering the phone free space.

At the Thursday night meeting, Ebony Clark, Assistant Principal of Newburgh Free Academy West campus, said the pouches are currently used at both Temple Hill Academy and NFA West. “The idea is that you then get to carry your phone with you because it’s your property. But you’re not allowed to use your phone,” she said.

Temple Hill Academy first started implementing the Yondr pouches last September, and according to Clark, students were able to keep the cell phones with them throughout the day.

If a student needs to access their cell phone at Temple Hill, various unlocking bases are kept at strategic locations such as administrative offices for students to safely go to unlock them. The bases are also placed on the walls outside of the school when going into the building or leaving to get on the bus.

At NFA West, the school has also implemented a phone line specifically dedicated for student use where students can call directly to their parents. A similar method is also used at Temple Hill for students to call their parents. Along with a demonstration of the pouches, Clark presented several data sets to show the board about student engagement within Temple Hill.

With the agreement according to the BoardDocs website, funding for these new pouches would be coming from ARP (American Rescue Plan) funds. Temple Hill has been slated for a renewal of the program with the approved agreement.

Students again are able to keep the cell phones at Temple Hill; however, at NFA West, the cell phone pouches are collected prior to the start of the academic day. A smaller high school setting was the reasoning to pursue that model.

For the upcoming school year according to Dr. Kathleen Farrelll, Interim Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum & Instruction, Secondary, the pouches would be used from Grades 6 to 12.

While most of the board members were in favor of and support of the idea, member Mark Levinstein did not support the presented item. “I just don’t like approving either policies or procedures that I think would be terribly difficult to enforce,” he said.

Dr. Jackielyn Manning Campbell, Superintendent of School, reassured the board members that the district is looking for other strategies to maintain and address the cell phone pouches collection/distribution.