When class resumes across Colorado Springs School District 11 Monday, it will mark the beginning of a major shift in the presence of cellphones in its schools.

Starting in the 2024-25 school year, they will become the first school district in El Paso County to prohibit the use of all students’ personal technology devices during instructional time. Along with personal smartphones, this includes smartwatches, tablets, laptops, audio/video devices and any other electronic devices not issued by the district.

The policy change marks the district’s effort “to protect the learning environment” as described in the policy approved earlier this year.

“I’m glad that we were able to see this through, because this is something that I campaigned on,” Board Vice President Jill Haffley said. “I think it’s a great solution to a problem, because we’re not taking away the students’ phones — they just can’t use them during school.”

To ensure that these devices aren’t a distraction during the school day, each middle school and high school student will be assigned a personal pouch for their phone, smartwatch and earbuds designed by the company Yondr.

On entering school, students will turn their phones off and place their devices in their pouch in front of staff. Once inside the phone-free area, the pouch will lock and students will keep their phones with them. They can use their phone at the end of the school day, during lunch and free periods by tapping their pouch at an unlocking base.

Exceptions outlined in the new policy include students with medical conditions that use their phone to monitor their health. In these cases, they will be assigned a pouch with a Velcro closure to allow them access for these purposes.

Elementary school students will not receive pouches and will be required to keep their phones in their backpacks during school time.

Yondr pouches have gained traction in recent years at other schools and have also been implemented at live performances, meetings and other events seeking to be “phone free.”

Phone use during class time has been attributed to distracting students, while their use in general hall has been linked to emotional distress, social media harassment and even physical conflicts.

D-11’s approach is a more direct response at addressing phone use in school, with other neighboring districts having a less-regulated approach in place. D-49, D-20, D-38, D-12, D-3 and D-2 all have similar policies with slightly different language that state students’ phones must be turned off or turned to silent during instructional time except in emergencies or according to staff allowance.

The private school St. Mary’s High School prohibited student phones last year. The charter school Thomas MacLaren has restricted cell phones and other personal technology device usage during the school day since it opened in 2009 while the charter Eastlake High School became the first school in El Paso County and the fifth in Colorado to enact a Yondr policy earlier this year.

Eastlake Principal Cassandra Berry said she first heard about the pouches while watching the “Today” show, but only learned about their effectiveness on seeing comedian Dave Chappelle perform in 2022.

“And when I went to the show, he Yondr’d up everyone’s cellphone and I thought, ‘This is interesting. I’m a grown woman, and you’re telling me I can’t have my phone?’” she recalled. “But then I kind of liked it, because it allowed me to focus, and I didn’t have to worry about checking it constantly.”

During the 2023-24 school year, Eastlake bought around 80 pouches for its student body through grant funding to address student mental health and specifically cyberbullying. Berry said the program has been a resounding success, with teachers and parents feeling less of a burden in regulating phone use and students paying greater attention during class.

“There were a couple that pushed back (at first) but then some came back at the end of the year and said, ‘thank you,'” she said.

The recent push by schools to limit screen time comes following multiple studies on the impacts of personal technology on overall well-being.

The prevalence of social media use by adolescents prompted U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy to issue a warning on its effects on mental health in 2023. Worldwide, a 2016 study found student performance in high stakes exams increasing in four English cities with phone bans while a 2021 study found physical activity increasing after a four-week ban in six Danish schools.

Not everyone believes the policy is the answer, though. Palmer High School student Michelangelo Krewson is concerned it will increase student anxiety and cut off direct contact from friends and families during school emergencies.

“Every student I know is against it. And every parent I’ve heard from is also against it,” she said. “They want to know (immediately) if something happens. And I know that if there is an emergency, they’ll come straight to the school.”

She added that students involved in off-campus activities during and after school would complicate the policy’s effectiveness while also affecting families’ travel schedules before and after school.

Krewson admitted that phone use in classrooms can lead to learning loss, but added that the funding used to implement this program could also be used toward other needs.

“I agree that they can be a distraction and it just hurts to know that there isn’t a happy medium,” she said. “It’s part of adult life — to have your phone — and part of that life is learning how to manage it.”

Charles Johnson, co-chair for the D-11 chapter of Neighbors for Education, a local coalition advocating for quality education in local school districts, said he has heard from a number of parents and teachers both for and against the new policy.

Some that he spoke with echoed Krewson’s concerns regarding the lost communication during emergencies and the inherent role that the technology now plays in most people’s lives. He added that some wished there was more public input before district administrators approved the policy.

“Collectively, yes, we are for improving student achievement and mental health,” he said. “There are some of us, however, that feel like this policy was rushed and there weren’t enough opportunities to gather input from the community to hear all their perspectives.”

One D-11 parent who asked to remain anonymous told The Gazette that they wholeheartedly supported locking phones, agreeing that such devices are ultimately a distraction and that existing channels of communication available in the schools are appropriate.

During the Wednesday night meeting, multiple members of the public expressed either support or opposition to the policy during the meeting’s public comment period.

Later in the meeting, the board approved to transfer $304,000 from the district’s general fund contingency toward purchase of the pouches for every student along with additional pouches in the case some may need to be replaced.

Before the vote, during board members’ reports, board secretary Jason Jorgenson shared studies and statistics on the negative impacts of smart technology and social media on youth mental health in recent years to elaborate on why he and other board members felt the investment was necessary.

Additionally, near the beginning of the meeting, board President Parth Melpakam took a moment to address the various public concerns he and other board members had heard regarding the policy.

“Let me be clear, this board is taking a strong and clear stance on this issue for one reason: Minimize distractions in the learning environment and maximize the learning potential of our students and being responsive to the support our teachers wanted,” he said. “This plan has overwhelming support from our teachers. Enforcement of this policy now does not fall on the teacher, allowing our teachers to teach and students to learn.”

More information on the new cellphone policy can be found on the district’s website.