Four more campuses in Richardson Independent School District (RISD) have been slated for a cell phone-free pilot program next school term, making five total in the district.
In line with the expansion of RISD’s pilot program to create a cell phone-free environment, Lake Highlands High School, Lake Highlands Junior High, Apollo Junior High, and Liberty Junior High are expected to utilize Yondr pouches in the coming year.
RISD announced in June that it was expanding a pilot program that restricts students’ cell phone usage while at school by using lockable pouches, as The Dallas Express reported.
RISD’s board of trustees voted unanimously in August 2022 to approve the pilot program at Forest Meadow Junior High (FMJH).
The pilot program first began during the 2022-2023 school year and required students to place their cell phones in Yondr pouches during the day.
After implementing the program, RISD had surveys conducted at the end of May “to review the implementation and effectiveness” of the cell phone-free environment policy, according to the presentation of the findings at the board of trustee’s June 6 meeting.
Responses were collected from students, parents, and teachers of secondary students.
Students, unsurprisingly, were not very supportive of the program: 87% of those surveyed at FMJH opposed its implementation.
However, 76% of surveyed FMJH parents agreed that the program helped teachers focus on classroom learning.
Teachers were the most supportive of the program: 100% of teachers at FMJH agreed that the Yondr pouches increased the amount of time they got to spend teaching.
Campus administrators also reported a “Downward trend of cell phone violations vs. the total number of disciplinary violations” and a “Clear difference in the number of cell phone violations at the Yondr Pilot campus vs all other campuses.”
While results from the annual STAAR exams may indicate whether students at FMJH performed better after utilizing the Yondr pouches, those statistics will not be available until sometime in August.
Last year RISD performed slightly above the state average in student achievement scores, with 50% of students scoring at grade level on the STAAR exam compared to the 48% statewide and the 41% logged at Dallas ISD.
A $140,000 contract was signed with Yondr to provide pouches to students of Lake Highlands High School, Lake Highlands Junior High, Apollo Junior High, and Liberty Junior High next term. But Superintendent Tabitha Branum projected that it will ultimately cost less, according to Advocate Magazine.
Roughly $40,000 will be needed for Lake Highlands High School and $14,000 for each junior high, depending on enrollment. On average, the price per student is about $17, reported Advocate Magazine.
Jennie Bates, area superintendent of the Lake Highlands High School learning community, was dubious about the program when it first started, according to Community Impact. Yet at the June trustees meeting, she remarked that it had been beneficial for FMJH and could also be for other schools.
“I know this is a big change, but as we saw from Forest Meadow, it is very successful,” said Bates, according to Community Impact. “It was a culture-changing, life-changing experience for Forest Meadow.”
