The first day of school for Newark Public Schools is September 8, the day after Labor Day. There will be a number of changes in the district — one especially big change for students.
“This will be the first school year New Jersey districts will implement the phone-free schools law,” said Jessie Gomez, reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, an education website. “Basically every school district has to develop some sort of rule to ban cell phones, what the state calls a bell to bell ban.”
In June, the Newark school board approved the purchase of Yondr pouches, used to lock up students’ phones. Students will be allowed to carry their phones if they remain off and in the pouches. The district tried out the new policy this spring. It worked for the most part, but some students had figured out how to unlock the pouches…