As the Hot Springs School District prepares to start the new school year next week, a new cellphone and other electronic devices policy will require students to “pouch” their devices upon starting each day.

The policy update, adopted by the school board during its regular monthly meeting on July 16, is part of the Arkansas Department of Education’s pilot program aimed at addressing in-school phone usage and mental health.

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Secretary of Education Jacob Oliva earlier this month invited superintendents in the state to join the initiative, in which the state provides funding to all secondary schools that provide pouches for students to store their phones during the school day.

Part of the grant funds telehealth mental health services for students and their families.

“We are super excited. (We) do believe that this will make a positive impact on student achievement and on our students’ mental health to participate in this program,” Hot Springs Superintendent Stephanie Nehus said.

The Hot Springs School District received just over $58,000 to purchase lockable cellphone pouches from a company called Yondr. Though the Yondr pouches will be used in grades 7-12, Nehus said the district administrative team agreed to implement the program school

wide, in grades kindergarten through 12th grade.

“While we won’t have the Yondr (pouches) in our elementary buildings K-6, we’re working with each building on how we’re going to collect cellphones and store those for the day and then give them back,” she said.

For grades 7-12, each student is assigned a Yondr pouch like they would be assigned a textbook at the beginning of a semester. When students get to school, they have to lock their phone and other electronic devices in the pouch. They keep it with them throughout the day and when they leave for the day, they unlock the pouch by pressing it against a device stationed near the exit.

In the case of an emergency, according to Yondr’s website, they can go to the school office to get it unlocked. Some classrooms may also have unlocking devices.

“And yes, there are medical pouches for students that need that,” Nehus said. “So there are special circumstances and we’ll have all of that built in. There will be unlocking devices in the office so if students arrive late, leave early, all of those pieces will be covered. But we are really excited to be part of this program.”

The district began training with Yondr last week to start the implementation process.

Nehus said she recently spoke with Bentonville School Superintendent Debbie Jones, who implemented a similar phone-locking program at one of the district’s high schools last year. The school with the program in place, she noted, saw a 49% decrease in discipline infractions and a 51% decrease in drug infractions in one school year.

Nehus said the program is something the district has been considering for a while and noted she had district technology director Bryce Walker start looking into such options several months ago. Looking at feasibility and access, she said Yondr provided the best option.

“Part of being in the pilot program with the state, you had to commit to all day,” Nehus said. “So not just ‘We put them up during class time,’ but we put them up at lunch … they’re just not accessible during the entire school day.”

Sanders and Oliva each spoke about the initiative at the annual ADE Summit, held July 8-10, at the Hot Springs Convention Center.

“Students, teachers, and parents are facing more challenges than ever before with rising phone use and, frankly, declining mental health,” Sanders said.

“This is a program I’m extremely proud of and something that we heard directly from educators and administrators, the great need for greater access. It’s something that I really hope that we can partner and work closely with each of you in the room to make that a total success on behalf of our students.”