Butts County Schools to store student phones in assigned 'Yonder' bags under new procedures

Butts County Superintendent Brent Lowe announced new procedures for the upcoming school year that will require students to place cell phones and other connected devices in assigned, lockable ‘‘Yonder’’ bags during the school day.

Lowe introduced Dr. Susan Harris, principal at Henderson, and Desmond Foster, principal at Jackson High School, who described how the system will work at the middle and high school levels and said the district intends the change to reduce social-media‑related disruptions to instruction.

At Henderson Middle School, Dr. Susan Harris said, "At Henderson, all of our students will have access to a Yonder bag. It will be labeled, with a number and also with the teacher's name. The students would get this bag during homeroom. They will put their phone in the bag and it will be closed. They will keep the bag on them throughout the day." Harris said students will leave the bags in the classroom at the end of the day and use the same assigned bag the next day.

Desmond Foster described a parallel plan for high school students: "So each student at the high school will be given one of these Yonder bags at the beginning of the school year. When they enter the building first thing in the morning, they'll have to put their phone in the Yonder bag and it will be locked."

Foster added that phones are to remain powered off while in the bags and that the high school will provide designated unlock stations for students to retrieve devices at dismissal. He said the district will hold grade‑level meetings to outline the progressive discipline that will accompany violations.

Lowe framed the change as district procedures tied to House Bill 340, which he described as the "Distraction Free Education Act." He said the district has not yet adopted a formal written policy but is implementing procedures for the coming year. "This is any kind of a distracted device," Lowe said, adding, "So this will be watches as well. Anything that will allow the student to get text or get on social media, we just want to keep those out of the classroom."

Lowe said the move responds to what he described as "many discipline events last year that were called by social media and the use of telephones," and that administrators hope removing devices during instructional time will reduce disruptions and let "learning take place."

The district also reminded families of open‑house times for July 30: Pre‑K and kindergarten from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m.; elementary schools 4 to 6 p.m.; middle school 5 to 7 p.m.; and high school 6 to 8 p.m.

Next steps: district officials said procedures will be implemented at the start of the school year; a formal written policy and citation for House Bill 340 were not specified during the chat.