Amid talk of cellphone bans in NYS schools, pouch maker steps up lobbying

ALBANY — A company that makes magnetically locked cellphone pouches is ramping up its lobbying efforts in New York State as Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Eric Adams are looking to ban students’ use of cellphones in schools.

The company, Yondr, was founded in San Francisco in 2014. In January, it hired longtime Albany lobbying firm Patricia Lynch Associates for $10,000 a month — $5,000 for the city services and $5,000 toward the state services, including lobbying fees, according to state lobbying filings.

From January to June, the company paid $50,000 to Patricia Lynch Associates for lobbying focused on Hochul and an official in the mayor’s Office of Innovation and Emerging Markets, according to the records. The lobbying topic was listed as "state procurement cell free zone."

The lobbying push comes as Hochul considers a statewide limit on the use of smartphones in classrooms in an effort to reduce distractions and improve students’ mental health. The governor is conducting a statewide listening tour to hear from teachers, parents and students. Proposed legislation could come as early as January, when she releases her policy and budget agenda for 2025.

Adams and city schools Chancellor David Banks also are mulling a ban on student cellphone  use in city public schools.

Yondr has a First Amendment right to push policies that help them sell their product,  said John Kaehny, executive director of Reinvent Albany, a watchdog group. "However, we will keep a close eye on any decision by the governor or mayor that basically requires students or schools to buy from Yondr, which would raise questions about the company having undue influence," he told Newsday.

While Yondr is popular, there are other companies that make similar products, including lockable bags and boxes. 

Hochul and Adam’s offices didn’t comment when asked about the lobbying efforts. 

Neither administration has shared details of their plan, including whether they would require schools to use the pouches and if they would provide funding to do so.

The pouches on average cost about $30 per student depending on the size of the school or district, according to the company.

Efforts to ban the use of cellphones have faced pushback from some parents who worry about safety and want their children to have access to their phones in case of emergencies.

But educators say a statewide policy is needed to create a more uniform approach with room for nuance to serve varying school and community needs.

"If we look narrowly at what is best for kids’ mental health, learning and relationship-building skills, all signs point to a distraction-free school environment," said Melinda Person, president of New York State United Teachers, the state’s largest teachers’ union. "We need state leadership to make it happen, and implementation details will require conversations at the local level."

The pouches

School districts statewide and on Long Island have been dealing with cellphone use in different ways; for example, collecting phones in baskets when students enter the classroom.

Some are using the Yondr pouches.

Yondr doesn't sell the pouches individually, but as part of a school program with training and curriculum resources, the company said. As a result, schools would have to buy into the school program, purchasing pouches in bulk. The pouches are also used by concert venues and businesses and in courtrooms to create cellphone-free zones. 

The pouches have a magnetic mechanism that requires a device to unlock.

Students typically put their phones and smartwatches in their personally assigned pouch upon arrival at school and can keep the pouch with them throughout the day. The pouches are unlocked at the end of the day by pressing them against an unlocking device, typically located near an exit.

The company would not disclose how many schools are using the pouch, but said they anticipate reaching up to 2 million students by the end of the year.

"We believe that society, especially young students, need protected places where they can escape the inundation of the digital world," according to a company statement provided to Newsday. Yondr did not respond when asked about its lobbying efforts.

Newburgh city schools, in the Hudson Valley, started using Yondr pouches for the district’s more than 6,000 middle and high school students last fall.

The district used about $102,500 from federal COVID-10 stimulus money to pay for the pouches, according to the district, which had an operating budget of $335.5 million for 2023-24.

The pouches are free for students to use, but they have to pay for a replacement if they intentionally damage or lose them.

High school co-principals Matteo Doddo and Susan Valentino said the pouches have been a major success across their campuses, increasing student engagement in the classroom and cutting down on student confrontations related to social posts during the day.

Once the culture shock wore off, the hallways and cafeterias got louder with students talking face-to-face with one another, the principals said. "I call it good noise," Doddo said.

Cellphone use had been prohibited for a while, but it was hard to enforce, whereas the pouches create building-wide consistency and take the onus off individual teachers, they said.

Legislation and funding

The Stony Brook School on Long Island started using the pouches in 2018 for students’ study time, but stopped using them last school year, said Chad Perney, the private school's director of student life.

The pouches worked, but students found ways to unlock them, and they were expensive, he said.

Instead, the students are asked to put their phones in a holder in a separate area to provide physical distance, which has been more effective at a tenth of the price, he said.

It’s also a learning opportunity: "How do you own the device and not have the device own you," he said.

 "The No. 1 distraction of the day is just being in constant communication with the digital world," Perney said. "It’s a lot, especially for the developing teen brain."

This coming school year, the college preparatory boarding and day school will be implementing an all-day cellphone ban during academic hours, he said.

Ultimately, any statewide ban would need to go through the State Legislature, which will likely hold a public hearing on the controversial topic, experts said. 

State Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal (D-Manhattan), who proposed similar legislation, said he would support a ban, and as the parent of a 13-year-old, he knows how distracting cellphones can be.

Hoylman-Sigal said he doesn't believe legislation would favor any one vendor, but questioned whether pouches are the way to go. "There would seem to be a low-tech way to manage this cellphone use," he said, adding that phones could be put in lockers or collected in baskets.

If there are any costs associated with the ban, they would almost certainly be part of the conversation and likely discussed as part of the state budget, he said. 

Hochul last month, when asked about potential funding for pouches, said she’s focused on the listening tour and doesn’t want to get ahead of herself. She touted school aid increases made under her leadership, adding that "some of these school districts already have the resources to make those investments in those pouches now."

The State Education Department said it believes decisions about cellphone use should be made at the local level, taking into account the needs of students, their families and the community, spokesman Jonathan Burman said. "Additionally, we believe that any costs associated with implementing cellphone policies should be funded by the state," he said.