Fairborn City Schools to require students to put cell phones in locked bags
Fairborn City Schools will be putting in a new system that would require students to lock up their phones when they get to school this upcoming school year.
News Center 7′s Taylor Robertson spoke to the assistant superintendent about what parents and students should expect.
Middle school and high school students in Fairborn should be prepared next year when they walk through the doors to shut their phone off and stick it in a pouch, and they won’t see it until the end of the day.
“It will create a change in that they won’t have direct access to their cell phones during school hours,” said Fairborn Assistant Superintendent Amy Gayheart.
>> Coroner ID’s woman found dead in Riverside backyard; death investigation underway
Gayheart said students at Baker Middle School and Fairborn High School will be assigned a Yondr pouch for the school year.
“When they enter the building at the start of the first class period they’ll be instructed to place it in the Yondr pouch, which will then lock with a magnetic lock,” Gayheart said.
Students will have the pouch on them all day, but only an administrator can unlock it.
“We had to take another step in order to better be able to limit their use of cell phones during school hours,” Gayheart said.
Gayheart said a change in student behavior since COVID prompted this pouch system policy.
“Things that stem from social media or texting, bullying and harassment, the videotaping of things in very private areas like bathrooms and we’ve found that we’re kind of fighting a losing battle,” Gayheart said.
>> UPDATE: Man pleads guilty to raping 10-year-old who left Ohio for abortion
One parent whose kids are in high school said her main concern is an emergency situation because the last time an emergency happened at the school no one called parents.
“They released a letter 45 minutes after the incident happened,” the parent said.
Gayheart explained what they plan to tell parents to ease their minds.
“We want to make sure that we clearly outline our emergency procedures which have been in place for many many years,” Gayheart said.
Other parents agree that students should not be on their phones in class and should face consequences if they are.
Fairborn City Schools will have a meeting in August that will go over all of the logistics surrounding the Yondr pouch system as they are still currently sorting out the details.
The school is also still working to figure out how many unlocking stations they will have throughout the buildings, but they mainly want them in high exit areas to help with dismissal time.
