Tam high schools district to wait for bond vote before committing to locking phone pouches

The Tamalpais Union High School District could start requiring all students to seal their cellphones in magnetically locking pouches during the school day as soon as January — but officials say they want to see whether a proposed multimillion-dollar facilities bond measure passes on the Nov. 5 ballot before they commit the estimated $154,000.

Kids on all five district campuses, including Redwood High School, are already required to turn their cellphones in to teachers at the start of each class period, a pilot policy enacted in January. The district wants to expand that ban by partnering with Yondr, a San Francisco-based company that creates the pouches for about $30 per student, to restrict use from the time students arrive on campus until they leave, meaning students would have their phones in their possession but would no longer be able to access them during breaks.

The district’s board of trustees earlier this month signaled its support for expanding the restriction, and Superintendent Tara Taupier at the board’s Aug. 27 meeting laid out a plan that targets January, when students return from winter break for the second semester, to start using the pouches. It would not cover Tamiscal High School, an independent-study school, with Taupier saying students at that school are typically not on campus regularly and that the school feels the current policy of collecting phones during class periods works well.

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