Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake High School changes cell phone policy

BURNT HILLS, N.Y. (NEWS10)-- Students at Burnt Hills- Ballston Lake high school will be required to place their cell phones in a designated area of the classroom for the upcoming school year. This new policy is in effort to minimize distractions inside the classroom.

Many districts in the Capital Region are beginning to convert to the Yondr Pouches, lockable storage for cell phones during the school day. Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake high school principal believes they don't need to resort to those pouches. Tim Brunson, the school's principal said they will be using a cell phone rack, cubby system.

"Last year the entire science department and probably another 50 teachers had cell phone racks in their classrooms," Brunson explained at Monday night's board meeting. "Every teacher including physical education, and every office will now have that rack."

The policy will require students to place their phones in the racks at the beginning of each 80-minute classroom block and they will not be allowed to take them until class is over. For physical education classes, students will be required to place their phones in the rack before going into the locker room. However, students will still have access to their phones during lunch periods and in between classes, Brunson added.

"I think you're going to get better focus in the classroom, and I think you're going to get better attendance," Brunson said. "It's a nice compromise, they will still be able to use their devices, we are just limiting the times they can use it."

Students who use their phone for medical purposes will still be allowed to access their phones under the new policy. Parents will also still be able to contact their student via email, as each student has access to Chromebooks provided by the district. According to the district, the phones in the office are also a method to get in touch with students during the school day.

"This is a nice half start to say, we recognize that you may use the phone for different purposes, so we are going to give you the opportunity to do it, but it has no place in the classroom setting," Brunson said.

The district plans to send an email to parents prior to the start of the school year, outlining the expectations with the new policy and then meet with all students and staff the first two days of school to go over the expectations. According to the school board, if this method doesn't work, they can resort to the Yondr Pouches.