PHILADELPHIA — Pennsylvania school districts this year will have access to millions of dollars in state money to buy lockable cell phone pouches — an attempt at addressing the distraction phones can bring into classrooms.

Yet around Philadelphia, numerous school administrators expressed little interest in the pouches, and it's still unclear how many districts may seek the funding.

“In my professional opinion, I think that's a ridiculous idea,” Jim Crisfield, the superintendent of the Wissahickon School District, previously told The Inquirer.

Wissahickon already has high schoolers place their phones in cell phone “hotels” hanging on classroom walls and doors during class — a policy the Abington school district just adopted, too.

The way pouches are used, students maintain their phones but can't access them through the magnetic cases until the end of the day when an administrator unlocks them. Some schools that have used the pouches have found that, with the help of online tutorials, students will break them open.

Crisfield said he thought requiring students to lock their phones away for the entire day was unrealistic: “Who is going to supervise and ensure that everyone puts their cell phone in a pouch?”

He isn't alone in questioning the logistics. Other leaders, particularly of large schools, felt the pouch requirement would be tough to enforce.

“There's too many kids in this district,” said Upper Darby Superintendent Dan McGarry, who also isn't eyeing the pouches. Instead, his district is instituting a policy requiring kids to keep their phones stowed away, with possible disciplinary consequences for violators.

Like some other school leaders, McGarry expressed concern about requiring students to forfeit their phones at school — saying he doesn't want administrators to be investigating lost and stolen cell phones.

But the lawmaker who proposed the pouches, Sen. Ryan Aument, R-Lancaster, said the measure was intended to address schools' liability concerns, not add to them.

Teachers are “very hesitant to take a student's phone,” Aument said.

Under Aument's legislation, school districts can apply to the state for a share of $100 million in safety and mental health grants to buy the pouches, if they also adopt a ban on cell phones during the school day. (There is also $20 million in funding for nonpublic schools.)

Applications for the program opened earlier this month. A spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency said, “We don't yet know the level of interest” in the funding.

Aument, a father worried about mental health consequences of phone and social media use, said he'll be watching participation closely to inform future proposals to restrict phones in schools.

“It's critically important that we free our kids for six-and-a-half hours” a day and allow them to focus on school, he said.

'A good first step'

The pouch program is supported by the Pennsylvania State Education Association, whose members “overwhelmingly support the idea of restricting cell phone use among students at certain points during the school day,” said spokesperson Chris Lilienthal. He called the program a “good first step,” letting local school districts decide the best approach.

Yet opinions differ on phone bans; while parent groups are pushing for changes, others want to remain connected to their children during the school day, or in the event of an emergency.

School boards, meanwhile, “recognize that electronic devices may provide a positive contribution when used for educational purposes,” said Mackenzie Christ, spokesperson for the Pennsylvania School Boards Association. In districts that may lack funding to supply all students with electronic devices like laptops or tablets, she said, “educators may call on students to use their personal devices to enhance learning.”

Hesitant school leaders say they're monitoring what happens in districts that do adopt the pouches. “We want to sit back, watch, learn a little bit,” said Chris Dormer, superintendent of the Norristown Area School District.

While “we are very, very aware of the distraction” caused by cell phones in schools, Dormer said, “we're not going to do something as drastic right now as a locked bag.”

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