Albany board hears update on implementation of governor’s device‑free mandate; Yonder pouch pilot to shift to daily pickup

The Albany City School District Board of Education received a progress report on district implementation of the governor’s mandate that schools be device free this school year, including changes to how students will use Yonder phone pouches and plans to test translation capacity for family communications.

Superintendent Harkrider told the board the district piloted the device‑free approach in secondary summer programs to get feedback and had responses from roughly 150 students and staff. “Students will pick up a Yonder pouch as they enter the school building, and they will return it at the end of the day,” Harkrider said, describing a shift away from students taking pouches home after each day.

The superintendent said the change responds to pilot feedback and vendor recommendations: giving students a pouch to take home led to many lost or forgotten pouches and created extra stress. She said the district will allow exceptions for students with approved needs and noted the Wi‑Fi networks will not be eliminated for exempted students or for after‑school use.

Board members raised operational and equity questions. Board member Austin Wolfgang asked whether daily pickup would create a morning bottleneck; Harkrider said secondary schools will organize distribution by grade‑level entrances and that the high school’s larger second entrance and staff will keep movement quick. Member Gracie (first name not specified in the meeting record) pressed how students without late‑period classes will unlock pouches; the superintendent said schools plan to install unlock devices at standard exits and to use receptacles that allow staff to rotate and wash pouches.

Several trustees pressed on family communications and translation. The superintendent said the district currently uses Language Line (a phone‑based interpreter service) and is exploring text‑based translation tools that would allow bilingual text messaging but noted there would be additional cost. “There would be a cost to that,” she said, and added she discussed unfunded mandates and possible state support with the governor.

Board members asked the administration to test Language Line under heavy use before school begins; the superintendent said the district will run tests and circulate a summary of the pilot feedback to the board and community. She also said updates on the phone policy and the student code of conduct have been mailed to families and will appear on the district calendar and website.

The superintendent described additional implementation details: elementary schools will keep phones out of sight under locally developed guidelines; students will have access to phones for essential communication; pouches will be differentiated for approved individual needs; and schools will continue to use Language Line for phone‑based interpretation while evaluating text translation tools.

Board members asked for clarifications about Language Line pricing and scalability; the administration said they believe Language Line charges by the minute but will provide precise contract and cost details to the board. The district also plans to collect and share staff and student survey results about the pilot and to “mock‑test” call volume for translation services before school opens.

The board did not take a vote on the policy at the meeting; the update was presented for information and to solicit questions and implementation details.