Albany BOE task force recommends ‘phone‑free’ school day; estimates first‑year cost around $131,500

The Albany City School District’s cell phone task force presented a plan to the Board of Education to create a bell‑to‑bell, phone‑free school day for secondary students and recommended purchasing device‑separation pouches and related hardware to remove phones from students’ hands during the school day.

The task force reported that vendors returned a preliminary cost estimate of about $131,500 for a first‑year purchase of a widely used pouch system (identified in the presentation as Yondr). The estimate covers containers, magnets and pouches for district secondary sites; the presenters said subsequent years would likely cost less because magnets and containers would not need replacement as often and only pouches might be replaced as needed.

The task force said its charge, started in July, was to review student phone use and suggest edits to Policy 5‑1995 (personal electronic devices). Members said the policy and the student code…