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Principal: Pelham Memorial’s phone ban changed student behavior; referrals rose as enforcement increased
Summary
Pelham Memorial Principal Mr. Llewellyn reported that classroom engagement has improved under the bell-to-bell phone ban but disciplinary referrals rose from 64 last year to 392 this year because enforcement now captures hallway violations. The board discussed parent communications, enforcement limits and next-year tracking plans.
Pelham Memorial High School Principal Mr. Llewellyn told the Board of Education on June 10 that the school’s bell-to-bell cell-phone ban has made classrooms and common spaces "feel very different" from a year ago, with fewer visible phones and more face-to-face interaction. "When you talk to teachers about students in the classroom, they do report that their attention and engagement is better," he said.
Administrators provided enforcement data: Dr. Titone reported 64 phone referrals in the prior year and 392 this year, which Mr. Llewellyn said reflects a change in detection and enforcement (more hallway confiscations) rather than more in-class phone use. He described the disciplinary sequence as warning, then detention for repeat referrals, and said schools are constrained in escalation by prevailing board policy and state law. "That’s a lot of work," he said of managing confiscated phones and student pickups.
Board members asked about grade-level differences, parent communications for emergency access, and the costs and compliance challenges of pouch-based systems (Mr. Llewellyn cited an annual pouch cost of roughly $25,000–$30,000 in some districts). As a next step, Mr. Llewellyn outlined plans to increase parent outreach, involve students in research and to use the student-management system to track movement and open-campus check-ins next year to better target enforcement and safety responses.
