Survey results show Bedford County Schools community against use of Yondr bags

BEDFORD COUNTY, Va. (WSET) — When winter break ends and Bedford County Public School students return to the classroom in January, they will be greeted by the new cell phone policy, but not everyone is on board with how they will use it.

Earlier this year, Governor Glenn Youngkin announced Executive Order 33, which tasked the Virginia Department of Education with creating guidance on implementing cell phone-free education in all schools across the state. The VDOE released their final guidance explaining that all schools should adopt a bell-to-bell policy; which means that students cannot use their phones in school from the first bell to the last bell.

Bedford County Public Schools chose to implement this policy, but they also use Yondr cell phone pouches. The department asks all students to lock their phones in their bag throughout the day and then unlock it at the end of the school day. The county said there are health exemptions if needed, but the goal is to create cellphone-free classes.

After three information sessions with parents and teachers, the department sent out a survey to students, parents, staff and the community to get feedback on the new policy and the Yondr bags. Through the Freedom of Information Act, ABC13’s Hayden Robertson requested the results of the investigation from the division.

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According to the survey, 4,408 people responded to it and sent their thoughts on the policy and the bags. The following people have participated in the study:

• 36.50% – Parents
• 45.42% – Students
• 15.65% – Teacher/BCPS employee
• 0.75% – Admin
• 1.68% – Other

In the survey, the fourth question was “Do you support the use of Yondr pouches to ensure that phones are used during the bell-to-bell instruction day in schools.” These are the following results:

• Yes – 11.42%
• No – 76.58%
• Neutral – 11.82%

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The results show that of those surveyed, just over three-quarters of them do not support the division of using the Yondr bags at all. ABC13’s Hayden Robertson took the results straight to the school board.

“Do you all feel like you’re doing a disservice by doing something that parents say they don’t want when the majority of you say you want parent input to the school department,” ABC13’s Hayden Robertson asked.

“To say we’re doing a disservice; you know, when a decision is made, there’s going to be a portion of the people that aren’t happy about it,” said school board member Jonathan Knight. “Unfortunately, that’s the nature of things. Anecdotally, I would say there were more people against the wallet than there were for it, but I will say that I had parents who grabbed me, who were in favor of the wallet, and a lot of teachers were in favor the wallet.”

“I mean, it’s 76%; it said no,” said ABC13’s Hayden Robertson.

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“Good, 76% of them responded,” Bedford County School Board Chairman Marcus Hill said. “Good, they won’t be forced to use it, but if they don’t want to use the bag, they’ll have to leave their phone at home or in the vehicle.”

According to the Bedford County Schools Executive Team, students can opt out of using the bags and will be given a blue card to show in their class; however, a student must leave their phone in their car if they drove to school or leave their phone at their home.

The department said they were applying for two grants; who helped obtain the Yondr bags. If enrolled, students receive one at the beginning of the new year. The division said if a student breaks their bag, a replacement bag will cost $30.

To read more about Bedford County Schools’ new cell phone policy, click here.