BRUNSWICK COUNTY — After assessing successful results for a pilot program that thwarts student cellphone use on some campuses, the Brunswick County Board of Education voted to expand it to more schools next year.
READ MORE: BC Schools cellphone-free pilot effective per teacher survey, absenteeism down
Dale Cole, BCS superintendent, requested the board expand its Yondr cellphone pouch program to middle schools in Leland, Shallotte, South Brunswick and Waccamaw, as well as at Rise and Achieve academies at the the Center of Applied Sciences and Technology (the pouches will not be required of visiting high school students that take career and technical courses at COAST).
The program expansion was supported unanimously by the board and will cost more than $78,000 to implement.
“It’s clear it’s worth the investment in improvement of instructional time we get for students,” Cole told the board.
He referred to data shared from Cedar Grove and Town Creek pilot as “overwhelmingly” supportive. Survey results from January indicated 85.5% of teachers (55 total from both schools) said the pilot has been very effective, while 56.4% of students rated the program somewhat positively and 23.6% very positively.
The board agreed to test-run Yondr pouches at the two middle schools at the beginning of the school year, with the goal to decrease classroom distractions, increase student learning and hopefully achieve better test scores. They also have seen it improve student engagement.
The survey found absenteeism was down by half at Cedar Grove and a fourth at Town Creek, which some board members attributed to better interactions among students when taking phones out of the school day. Board member Robin Moffitt said she has heard students feel more included because of collaboration.
“One of the kids remarked: ‘I’ve made more friends this year than I’ve ever had in school,’” she told the board Tuesday. “When you have students who make friends and feel included, that’s huge.”
A skeptic at first, Chair Steven Barger said he was happy to be proven wrong about the pilot after seeing survey results. He agreed with board members Vickie Smith and Moffitt about the importance of students interacting.
“Cafeterias are noisy again. Kids are communicating and not just staring at that phone,” Smith said earlier in the meeting.
Moffitt added recent teacher feedback included one educator telling her she could not fathom moving forward in the classroom without Yondr in place. Though Brunswick Schools had a policy that teachers could take away phones as necessary, it wasn’t always enforced uniformly.
“At first, I questioned: Why can’t we follow the policy?” board member Catherine Cooke said. “But it’s not so simple when you’re in the classroom.”
She elaborated how teachers were spending less time reprimanding phone use and were able to focus on lesson plans.
Now, students will have their phone confiscated to the front office if it’s found outside of the pouch. On the second offense, a parent would need to pick up the phone from the office. The third offense comes with three days of in-school suspension.
Barger commended staff for implementing the plan seamlessly. Students lock away their phones in pouches at the beginning of the school day at magnetic stands located at entry and exitways. The pouches go with the kids from room-to-room and students unlock them at the end of the day.
Barger expressed concern it would slow down entering and exiting schools grounds, but found that has not been the case.
“It was actually faster,” he said. “And after the first week of students finding their rhythm, it didn’t slow down.”
Though complaints had come in from parents about being able to reach their children in school during emergencies, Barger reminded the school office and classrooms still have phones in them.
“We are not secluding students from parents but while at school we want them engaging and learning,” he said, adding he’s heard from safety professionals that a cellphone-free school day is also safer for kids should an active shooting situation arise. “Students paying attention to directions given by adults is more important than what they’re putting on their phones. … I was glad to have my mind changed by the real-time data we got on the program.”
Superintendent Cole also heard from SROs approving of the program, noting it cut down bullying incidents, as well as sharing of videos and photos on social media accounts.
“I was involved in a reunification drill at North Brunswick High School and the SROs approached me and said the Yondr pouches were the best thing they had ever seen,” Cole said. “They said it removed so many discipline issues.”
Cooke noted the final piece of the puzzle, improved test scores, would also be an indicator of how well the program worked. She anticipated to see higher marks — ”which will be a huge added plus to this.”
Vice Chair Steve Gainey, who first researched the pilot and brought it to the forefront of consideration, combated complaints from anyone decrying costs. He said when assessing the numbers, it’s a minimal investment for maximum outcome.
“When you break down the cost per student, per year, it’s $8,” he said. “I don’t know of any more effective and impactful that way we can spend $8 on a student.”
The district spent $30,000 on the Yondr pilot. One hiccup has come with replacement pouches, as Cedar Grove Middle principal Justin Hayes told the board last month they “don’t hold up very well.”
Schools give students one free replacement and then charge $25 per pouch thereafter; students take home the pouches nightly. Gainey said Yondr representatives informed the district the replacement rate would be 25% over four years, which equates to only 30 pouch replacements at Cedar Grove per year.
Cedar Grove has 500 students but was allotted 525 as part of the pilot; it already is out of replacements.
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