With Gov. Gavin Newsom having signed legislation requiring California school districts to limit student smartphone use during the school day by July 2026 via the Phone-Free School Act – AB 3216, trustees of the Tamalpais Union High School District are expected to decide this month on whether to purchase locking cellphone pouches for 4,600 students in the district’s five high schools, on the heels of public discussions and a community survey.
Board members are tentatively scheduled to vote on the Yondr contract on Nov. 19. The arrangement would cost $160,000 to start in January and $20,000 to $30,000 annually thereafter. The money would not come from proceeds of the $289 million bond measure that voters passed on Tuesday, officials said.
Board members said they agree that the main issue in taking away cellphones during classes is to improve the learning climate and culture by avoiding social media, texting and other distractions. Research has shown that students are more apt to get depressed and anxious and have poorer academic performance if they are allowed unfettered cellphone use, trustee Cynthia Roenisch said. “I personally feel we are committing educational malpractice if we do not restrict the phones,” Roenisch said at a recent board meeting. “I don’t need to see more data.”
Since January, the district has required teachers to collect students’ phones at the beginning of each class and place them in a hanging caddy. The system is flawed in that it still allows the students to have their phones at lunch and passing periods, and that it requires teachers to police the caddies to make sure students don’t secretly remove their phones.
However, some trustees said adding the Yondr locking pouches might be overkill if what is really needed is more enforcement of the existing system. Trustee Kevin Saavedra said the locking pouches are easily hacked and might end up being more of a distraction and enforcement problem for teachers. “If the current system is 85% effective and we try to go for the perfect 100%, we may end up in worse shape than we are now,” Saavedra said. “That would make teachers the bad guy.”
If the Yondr products are purchased, students would lock their phones in the pouches at the start of each day and keep the pouches in their backpacks. They would not have access — except for emergencies — during lunch or passing periods. At the end of the day, they would unlock their phones using a machine that would be installed in each classroom.
According to a survey last month of staff, parents and students, the majority were not in favor of the locking pouches. The survey indicates that of 150 teachers and other staff members who responded, 62% were in favor of restrictions during instructional times and breaks, but not lunches. About 51% supported full-day restrictions.
Of 1,366 parents and guardians who responded, 66% were in favor of the restrictions except for lunch, and 49% supported full-day restrictions. Of 1,288 students, 15% supported no phones except for lunch, and 1% supported the full-day, phone-free plan.
Trustee Emily Uhlhorn, who has children in high school, said they are not in favor of the Yondr pouches. “They think the current system is OK,” she said. She would prefer to keep the phones available for students during lunch, when some may need them for socialization and connection, she said.
“What are the factors that we’re trying to solve with Yondr, and is the current system solving for any of them?” she said. “Sometimes the phones may be a lifeline for kids who are experiencing trauma.”