XENIA — Students who walk into Xenia High School with a cell phone will be met with a policy change this school year.

The district is utilizing the YONDR system as a way to enforce the current policy — which requires students to keep their cell phone off and out of sight throughout the day — and keep teachers’ focus on teaching, and not on enforcing the cell phone rules.

On the first day of school, all students will receive a YONDR pouch in their advisory period. Students will be shown how to use the pouch, and the disciplinary consequences for not using the pouch will be explained. Students will write their first and last name on their pouch, so that their pouch can be identified. After that, students will be expected to use the pouch each day they are in the building.

Students will store their phone and ear buds in their YONDR pouch at the beginning of their first period classes. Students will keep their YONDR pouch in their possession, either on their desk or in a pocket, until the end of the day. Students who arrive late to school will be able to secure their phone at the security desk in the main lobby of the building before they sign in and proceed to class.

At the end of the school day, students will be able to unlock their YONDR pouch and have access to their phone. If a student is leaving the building before the end of the school day, they will be able to unlock their YONDR pouch at the security desk in the main lobby before they leave the building.

“We want our students to be engaged in their learning and in appropriate interpersonal social interaction throughout the day,” an email sent to parents said. “Phones have become a distraction within the school day for many students, and for teachers who have to constantly monitor students for phone use during class and school activities. Additionally, there is much research which tells us that there have been significant increases in discipline related to cyberbullying and the circulation of inappropriate videos and pictures.”

Parents who need to reach their child will be able to do so by contacting the main office and the school will either carry a message to the student, or bring him/her to the main office so they can talk with their parent. Parents can also email their child as each student has a Chromebook and has access to email throughout the day.

Students who forget to bring their pouch to school will be sent to the main office where they will be allowed to store their phone in a borrowed YONDR pouch for the remainder of the day. The first time this happens, there will be no additional consequence to the student as leaving the phone in the main office is the consequence of forgetting to bring one’s YONDR pouch to school. After the first incident, failure to bring your YONDR pouch will be treated as a refusal to follow the cell phone policy.

If a student refuses to follow the cell phone policy — either by refusing to place their phone and earbuds in their YONDR pouch or by removing their phone from their pouch during the school day — the student will be sent to the main office to speak with an administrator. Should they still refuse to follow the policy, they will receive disciplinary consequences beginning with one day in-school intervention and parent contact by administrators and progressing to five days out of school suspension.

According to district officials, any student receiving a total of seven or more days of in-school intervention and out of school suspension for any disciplinary reason will also be prohibited from attending the homecoming dance, the winter dance, and the junior-senior prom.

”It is our hope that implementing the YONDR system will improve the educational experience for your student by taking your student’s attention away from one of the greatest distractions that students face during the school day — their cell phones — and putting their attention back on the work they are doing in class,” the district email said.

Reach Scott Halasz at 937-502-4507.