San Mateo Union High School District to study policies for cellphones

“There’s a lot of angst that comes with prohibitions so it’s not like it’s a simple fix,” Brian Simmons, director of Curriculum and Assessment, said. 

The measure — Assembly Bill 3216 — is being considered by Gov. Gavin Newsom just over a month since he strongly encouraged districts throughout the state to take advantage of already existing law, which many SMUHSD schools have already done. 

In 2019, Newsom signed Assembly Bill 272 into law granting school districts the authority to regulate the use of smartphones during school hours. The same year, San Mateo High School quickly took advantage of this allowable restriction, and have been phoneless since.

“Being able to see students’ eyes and be able to make eye contact and talk to a student,” Principal Yvonne Shiu said. “Hallways are pretty loud because there is talking. I remember a time at brunch or lunch where students are sitting across from each other in a circle texting each other.” 

At the start of the school day, San Mateo High School students put their cellphones in an electronically locked pouch provided by the company Yondr, which keeps kids from accessing their phones unless they’re in a designated area. Each student has their own Yondr pouch, and keeps their phone on their person.

Beyond an evident increase in attention from students in the classroom, Shiu said restricting access to cellphones has allowed students to “be silly” without a concern of being filmed by another student. 

“There’s some freedom in kids just being kids and being goofy and participating in different rally games without a fear of being made fun of,” Shiu said. 

At Peninsula High School, Principal Ron Campana said cellphone restrictions have also had similar residual benefits, in addition to the general increase in volume from students socializing more. 

“I don’t know if there’s an exact correlation, but we’ve had less fights or scuffles,” Campana said. “We had a couple scuffles last year, but none of them made it to YouTube.” 

Peninsula also uses Yondr pouches, but they are not required for every student and rather than allowing students to keep the pouch, they must leave it locked in the principal’s office. Campana said this was a decision after many Yondr pouches were repeatedly damaged.

Although both schools using Yondr have reported misconduct or damages of the pouches — Shiu said it costs nearly $15,000 to give every student a new pouch each year — Simmons said it’s also because “the more you pay attention, the more you’re going to see those things happening.” 

“They’re just paying real close attention to the use of phones and making sure those Yondr pouches are being used with fidelity,” Simmons said. 

Due to San Mateo High’s long implementation of the restriction, the school has been able to make adjustments as needed and work out any kinks, Shiu said, and teachers are on board.

“I think it’s very rare when you have 100% of your faculty behind a school policy or rules,” she said. 

Although families are generally on board as well, Shiu said she’s heard they are still struggling with addictive cellphone use at home. 

As the district looks toward refining its policies, Simmons said it will be important to be cognizant of the larger role schools play in equipping students with healthy habits. 

“[Cellphones] are a part of our realities now,” Simmons said. “To take them away during six, seven hours of their day and not actually help them learn how to use them effectively and appropriately is somewhat of a dereliction of duty.” 

In addition, Simmons said the district should consider a balanced approach in its policy work, considering allowing phone use during noninstructional times and leveraging technology responsibility to enhance learning. 

“What we have on our side now, is we have a state law,” Trustee Jennifer Jacobson said. “When we have partner districts that are already doing it, that’s going to make it that much easier going forward.” 

In 2022, the San Mateo-Foster City School District followed the high schools’ model to address concerns of deteriorating mental health and increased online bullying. 

The high school district will be studying its current policies to inform writing new ones, or codifying what is already established, to be considered for implementation by spring 2025, Simmons said.

“Wherever we land, I think we need to have each school be unique with a solution, but give avenues of possibilities of what that solution can be,” Trustee Greg Land said.