By: Amy Zimmer, Chalkbeat & Michael Elsen-Rooney, Chalkbeat

New York City, the nation’s largest school system, is considering a plan to ban cellphones in its roughly 1,600 schools starting in February, according to several principals briefed on the possible policy.

Schools would have to come up with their own policies, principals told Chalkbeat, whether they collect devices at the start of the day or have students carry their phones in Yondr pouches, cloth cases for phones that are locked with a magnet from morning to dismissal.

Even though such systems can be pricey, school leaders don’t expect to receive extra money in their budgets, principals said, according to the plans shared with them. The principals spoke on the condition of anonymity since they were not authorized to speak to the media.

When asked to confirm the preliminary plans, Department of Education spokesperson Nathaniel Styer wrote, “No decisions have been made yet!”

For collecting phones, schools might need to buy cubbies or other storage equipment, plus they need staffing. (Some school leaders have wanted to steer clear of collecting phones, worried about liability issues for lost devices.) Yondr pouches cost about $25 to $30 per student, with pricing varying depending on school size, a company spokesperson previously told Chalkbeat.

Schools Chancellor David Banks has been talking with principals across the five boroughs about cellphones, and said that they overwhelmingly want a citywide policy. Gov. Kathy Hochul is also planning to announce a statewide school cellphone policy this year.

School leaders have been able to set their own cellphone policies since 2015, when former Mayor Bill de Blasio lifted the school cellphone ban largely due to equity issues: Students in schools with metal detectors, which largely serve low-income families, were forced to pay local businesses $1 a day or more to store their phones before they entered school.

Nearly 10 years ago, however, cellphones were not as ubiquitous, especially for younger kids, and teens weren’t glued to social media apps like Instagram and TikTok. They didn’t have easy-to-hide AirPods. And their parents weren’t calling their kids as often.

As a result, the city’s schools have a patchwork of policies that many teachers say are difficult to enforce. Educators at schools where phones are already collected or put in pouches say those systems are not foolproof, but they at least appreciate the clear message to students. At schools with a cellphone ban on paper, teachers say the onus is on them to enforce, and enforcement can vary classroom to classroom, leading to confusion among students.

A growing chorus of educators, experts, and politicians have been raising the alarm more recently about the negative impacts of cellphones on youth mental health and how they take away from learning time. A growing number of school districts are banning cellphones, including Los Angeles, the nation’s second largest district, which has until January to implement a new policy.

One principal voiced concern about New York City’s possible February timeline, worried that starting a major new policy midyear could prove challenging to implement. But this principal also said there wasn’t enough time to implement a ban by September.

“The amount of money it takes to successfully collect, secure, and distribute around 700 phones every day is staggering,” a school administrator said in response to a Chalkbeat survey about cellphones.

This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at ckbe.at/newsletters (thecity.nyc)