Starting in the fall, students in Vestal and Binghamton will have to put away their cell phones. in sealed, magnetic bags during the school day. The policy is intended to reduce technological distractions in the classroom.

The “Yondr” bags are smallpadded bags. Once closed, they can only be opened by a round, magnetic clasp.

This school year, students at Vestal Middle School will line up every morning and are given a bag to lock away their phones, AirPods and smartwatches. At the end of each day, the bag is unlocked before they leave school.

School officials say students are increasingly distracted by their phones during class. A recent Pew Research survey 72% of US high school Teachers felt that phones were a major distraction in class.

Vestal School Assistant Superintendent for Instruction Dr. Patrick Clarke said the school district already has a policy prohibiting cell phone use during class, but it is difficult for teachers to enforce it.

Clarke said the school district has assembled a “device task force” of parents, students, teachers and board of education members to develop a new policy.

“After examining students’ devices in depth, two key findings emerged. First, devices were a major distraction for students, often hindering learning,” Clarke said. “And second, devices were associated with negative mental health outcomes, including increased rates of anxiety and depression, and an increase in cyberbullying.”

Schools throughout the country have taken similar measures in recent years. In Vestal, the new telephone directive initially only applies to middle school students.

“This was the opportunity, before the addiction set in, before they developed these bad habits with the phone, to teach them these tools, teach them how to stop it, and then go from there,” said Sarah Wiggins, principal of Vestal Middle School. “But that doesn’t mean this program can’t be expanded to high school as well.”

The Vestal School District purchased 1,000 Yondr bags for about $30 each. Officials say the bags came entirely from grant funding.

“Across the country, many schools are using these systems. We’ve also been working with districts in New York State that have already rolled them out to get a sense of what it’s going to be like in the first few weeks,” Wiggins said. “We’ll be collecting data. We’ll be talking to the kids, to any parents who want to reach out and share their thoughts on how things are going.”

At a school district town hall meeting earlier this month, families were divided on the plan. Several parents said they were in favor of the new policy, but others expressed safety concerns. Some parents worried about whether their children would be able to call for help in an emergency.

Vestal officials say their next major project will be installing emergency buttons in classrooms so students and teachers can alert first responders if needed.

The Binghamton City School District also recently announced that it will be using Yondr bags this school year. Binghamton High School and two middle schools will implement this policy.

The districts are just the latest of many across the state to implement similar telephone policies with varying successincluding schools in Norwich in Chenango County, Newburgh in the Hudson Valley and New York City.

The Governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, was on a hearing Tour of the state, hear from studentsParents and educators as she considers a statewide policy on phone use in the classroom.