RICHARDSON, Texas — Cell phones in school have been a common battle for teachers, as they try to limit distractions during class.
So one North Texas school district is expanding a new program to prevent those problems as school begins next week.
The Richardson Independent School District will now require students at four additional schools to keep their phones in a pouch that locks in certain phone-free areas, such as the classroom.
In addition to Forest Meadow Junior High, which had the pilot program last year, Lake Highlands High School, Lake Highlands Junior High, Apollo Junior High and Liberty Junior High will be part of the program.
The pouches, known as Yondr pouches, allow students to keep their phone with them, while the pouch keeps the phone locked in the phone-free area. Yondr users can unlock their phone pouch by stepping outside of the phone-free area and tapping the pouch on an unlocking base.
The Yondr was program was piloted by the Richardson school district at Forest Meadow Junior High School last year. The program resulted in a "dramatic decrease in cellphone-related discipline," school district officials said in a statement earlier this summer.
The officials also said 100% of Forest Meadow teachers who responded to a survey about the program "indicated academic time increased in classrooms" because of the program.
District data showed that secondary campuses had an average of 49 cellphone violations per day but that Forest Meadow had just eight violations per day.
Superintendent Tabitha Branum said the request for the program expansion was an ask from the campus level.
"This is really coming from our campuses," Branum said at the June school board meeting. "This is a request from our campuses."
More North Texas education coverage from WFAA: