Phones locked in pouches all day at the middle and high schools

What happened

Woonsocket began locking student phones in Yondr pouches at its middle and high schools in the week of March 9, 2026. The committee had approved buying the pouches on October 22, 2025 to take a 50 percent discount, then adopted the policy on January 28, 2026. Students keep a pouch for the year, lock their phone at a station on the way in and unlock it at dismissal, and the rule runs bell to bell, including passing time and lunch. Exemptions exist for medical devices and for individual education or 504 plans and must be approved by the superintendent or a principal, not a teacher. Elementary phones stay banned, with a signed consent form required for grades 4 and 5. A lost or broken pouch costs $40.

Why it matters to families

This changes every secondary student's day and was pushed by teachers who told the committee that phones were fuelling fights by putting them straight onto social media. Two weeks in, the superintendent said teachers were spending less time arguing about phones and more time teaching, and a student representative described classmates talking to each other in the corridors.

The evidence

The approved March 11, 2026 minutes record the start of implementation and the superintendent's and student representative's accounts of its early effect. The January 28, 2026 minutes set out the policy in detail, including the bell-to-bell rule, locking stations, exemptions and the $40 replacement fee, and the October 22, 2025 minutes record the 5-0 vote to buy the pouches.

The source