By NEIL ZOLOT
WAKEFIELD — A program of having Galvin Middle School students put their cellphones in pouches instituted from November 2023 to this past June will continue in the upcoming school year.
“Expectations will be the same,” Galvin Principal Megan Webb said at the School Committee meeting Tuesday, August 6. “Our goal is to have cellphones off and away. We’re pleased the way the pouch provided another layer for students to manage technology. In school there generally isn’t a reason to have it. You don’t need it during the day. You’ve got everything you need.”
The program was funded by a grant from the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, with Yondr as the contractor. Students put their phones in pouches which are locked electronically and can be carried by them during the day or left in lockers. Webb reported having the pouches educated students on the need to manage cellphone use in school and reduced the amount of time spent on in-school cellphone offenses, but “interaction outside the school comes into the school. We’re figuring out how to address this for the school and community.”
“There are also issues of students trying to access their phone despite the pouches,” she said. “We’re not searching bags, but we want to do a better job with students struggling with this.”
Plans for that include confiscating phones and calling parents early in the disciplinary process as well as providing support for students.
DESE, their counterparts in other states and federal authorities had expressed concern about cellphones as a distraction and a tool for bullying, which leads to a lack of concentration and more anxiety. “We are concerned about the effect of cellphone use in middle school and student ability to interact with others too,” Superintendent Doug Lyons said.
“We’re glad to be at the forefront of DESE efforts,” Webb added.
Concerns were raised by School Committee member Eileen Colleran and some parents at a School Committee meeting last year about the needs of students with issues requiring them to have access to their cellphone or parents wanting to have access to their children or fears of an emergency. Webb called Middle School “a good age for students to start to be independent, but some parents want to be connected all the time. It’s developmentally appropriate, but difficult for some families to absorb.”
Students falling into those categories were given pouches with velcro flaps, which satisfied Colleran. “Everybody that needed a velcro pouch got one,” she said.
Students were also told they could use a regular telephone in the school office if the need arose to contact their parents. “They’re welcome to use the phone in the office and we teach them how,” Webb reported, adding she’s seen some humorous moments when kids don’t know how.
Another logistical concern was how the pouches could be unlocked after school hours, given the possibility students would forget to pass by a scanner in school to do so. Webb reported a scanner at the police station can be used after school or on weekends.
Pouches will be distributed to all student grades 5-8. Webb said although 5th graders are more compliant when told not to use or have their cellphone in class, they might get one over the course of the school year and “they’ll 6th graders soon enough” and it’s easier just to give everyone a pouch. She thinks some pouches will survive a student’s entire stay at Galvin. One of her tasks is figuring how many replacements they’ll need.
She also said kids took to decorating the pouches as a sign of personal expression.
All this information will be included in literature welcoming students to or back to Galvin. There are also plans to distribute a survey to get feedback from students and parents about how the program went.
“There’s anecdotal reporting this is going well, but do you have data?” School Committee member Kevin Piskadlo asked.
“I don’t, but want to come back to you with that,” Webb answered, referring back to earlier remarks. “It’s an area we want to focus on.”
“We’re seeing more and more requirements to have cellphones away,” Lyons added. “We’re learning and seeing what’s happening across the country.”
School Committee Vice Chairman Kevin Fontanella, conducting the meeting because Chairman Stephen Ingalls was participating remotely, said he feels things will run more smoothly than last year because the program is being implemented at the beginning of a school year, not in the middle.
He also asked Webb, “Would you recommend this to the high school?”
“People ask me that all the time and it would be a great conversation to have,” Webb answered. “High school students are at a different stage developmentally and I’m not sure I know their needs for communication.”
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In other items, Director of Special Education and Student Services Rosie Galvin was given a new contract. “I’m excited to continue the work,” she said.
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In her report, Business Manager Christine Bufagna said Fiscal 2024 ended with a $24,478 surplus, which will be returned to the Town, and the working number for Fiscal 2025 is $52,319,699.
