RSU 5 board hears mixed reactions to stricter cellphone rules, students oppose Yondr pouches

RSU 5 school officials and students on Wednesday continued a months‑long discussion about tightening rules on student cellphone use in school, with students urging alternatives to locked pouches and staff signaling openness to tools that would reduce classroom disruptions.

The student member of the leadership team, Phoebe, presented a student survey of 205 responses and told the board the results showed inconsistent enforcement: “a lot of students are landing here at, like, the I see this as they’re asking us, they’re reminding us to pull it up, but they’re not necessarily, like, checking.” Students in the survey strongly opposed mandatory Yondr‑style locking pouches; when asked if the pouches were a good idea the student responses clustered strongly against them. Many students said they want clearer, fairer enforcement rather than a system that feels punitive.

The disagreement matters because…