This year, students at 16 middle and high schools in Baltimore County will begin each class by putting their cell phones in clear bags.

Superintendent Myriam Rogers announced the $15,000 pilot program at a press conference on Tuesday, less than a week before the first day of school. The district is joining a nationwide movement limit phone access in the classroom to increase student engagement and reduce the harm of social media.

“Smartphones and school time just don’t mix,” Rogers said Tuesday. “If you focus on technology in the classroom, you’re fundamentally not focusing on the teacher and the learning that needs to take place there.”

Rogers said some middle schools in the county began requiring students to put their phones in boxes during class last year. But the pilot project will allow principals to standardize teacher training and policies, she said, to collect before-and-after data such as office reprimands for violations of District cell phone rules.

“Our goal is to make sure that the number of expulsions in schools drops significantly,” Rogers said. “And we will also get anecdotal evidence from our teachers as they tell us what the climate is like and what the impact is of not being distracted by the cell phones they have to compete with while teaching.”

The evidence collected will determine whether the district will purchase bags for all schools in the future – or take a different approach.

Some charter schools in Baltimore City began Lock away cell phones in the last school year to better engage students in academic and social activities. Sonja Santelises, CEO of the city schools, said The Baltimore Banner last week that she hopes to encourage more school principals to do the same.

Rogers said the biggest resistance to cell phone policies comes from parents who want to reach their child in crisis situations, which is why the bags are usually kept in classrooms.

“The students always have it in view. The teacher always has it in view,” she said. “So if, God forbid, an emergency occurs, you can immediately run and get your phone to access it.”

Baltimore County is also one of over 200 school districts across the country Filing lawsuits against social media giants that own apps like Instagram and TikTok for contributing to the mental health crisis among youth.