Cellphone Pouches For Darien High School May Cost Around $26K: Addley

DARIEN, CT — As the school district plans to implement personal device guidelines at Darien High School next school year, Superintendent Dr. Alan Addley revealed the cost for 1,100 device pouches for students could be around $26,000, up from a previous estimate of $17,000.

The Darien Board of Education heard an update Tuesday night on personal device guidelines from Darien Public Schools Instructional Technology Coordinator Timothy McGuire. Tuesday's meeting is available to watch on the Darien Public Schools YouTube channel

New guidelines were put in place last September restricting cellphone and personal device use in grades K-8, but high school students, parents, staff and administrators have been working throughout the year to develop a plan for the high school level with a goal to implement protocols in the fall of 2025.

Under the proposed high school guidelines, McGuire said students in grades nine to 11 would be prohibited from using cellphones during school hours. Phones would have to be sealed in specialized pouches and kept in backpacks.

Senior-use of cellphones would be prohibited, except they could be used in the senior cafe and not during lunch. Seniors would have to store phones in their backpacks, and a pouch system would not be required.

"Access to cellphones within classrooms at Darien High School is already greatly restricted for all students. The new protocols really intend to address the less structured parts of a student day, such as lunchroom and hallway transitions," McGuire said.

Included in McGuire's presentation was an FAQ on high school guidelines.

DHS ran a pilot program using about 200 of the specialized pouches. Of the 200 pouches, 150 of them could be locked and unlocked, and 50 could be simply magnetically sealed.

The district needs to purchase an additional 1,100 bags for students in grades nine to 11, and it was previously thought that $17,000 was enough to cover the cost. However, Addley cited tariffs as a contributing factor to the price increase.

DHS Principal Ellen Dunn spoke briefly Tuesday about the importance of physically placing a cellphone in a pouch each day for students.

She said the pouches the district is looking at purchasing has technology that prevents phones from connecting to laptops.

"I think the addition of the bag will really be a helpful step for the high school students," Dunn said, calling it "daily reminder of the commitment."

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Board member Kadiatu Lublin said she had concerns about the cost for the pouches.

"It's very hard for me to wrestle with this amount of money, especially outside of a budget, and in particular, a very rising cost for something that's unknown," she said.

Lublin said she was concerned with bags unlocking on time at the end of the day to allow students to get to their buses, and she said she was nervous about getting access to bagged cellphones in emergency situations. Lublin also wondered if the bags could be damaged.

Dunn acknowledged that using locking pouches "adds a layer of logistics."

"As part of the pilot we ran, we discovered a bag with a lock they provided to us was not at the standard we liked," Dunn said. "It was locking the bag overnight, and that would mean unlocking in the morning and unlocking at the end of the day, which is not acceptable to getting us in and out of school. I think we're leaning toward the bag without the lock to eliminate that and to eliminate the unlocking at the end of the day as students are leaving."

Dunn said schools that are successfully using locking bags, like Wilton High School, which utilizes bags from the company Yondr, have installed plenty of magnet stations around the school.

Board Chair Jill McCammon said the board would like more information on logistics and implementation before a purchase order is placed for pouches. The board is expected to further discuss cellphones at DHS on June 10.

McGuire also gave the board an update Tuesday on the personal device guidelines at the elementary and middle school level.

The guideline compliance rate in April for all elementary students was 100 percent. At Middlesex Middle School, the compliance rate was 99.94 percent, McGuire noted.

Some seventh and eighth grade students shared concerns about the protocols, and several mentioned that their parents try to reach them during the day, McGuire said.

MMS students are allowed access to a phone to make urgent calls if necessary, McGuire reiterated.

"I just ask that [parents] please help us to continue to support students by refraining from texting the child during the day," McGuire added.

Addley praised the elementary and middle school students and staff for adapting to the new guidelines this year.

"I'm so proud of this data, and I'm particularly proud of the kids and the staff, the community, for a joint effort in this," Addley said. "It's based on trust and I just believe that kids will rise to the expectation. I'm just so pleased."