WEST SPRINGFIELD — At the West Springfield School Committee’s May 27 meeting, the committee received an update that West Springfield Middle School will begin the implementation of YONDR pouches for student electronics.
Beginning with the 2025-26 school year, students at West Springfield Middle School will be following the same cell phone use policy as the high school. Superintendent Stefania Raschilla explained that going forward, students will follow a “bell-to-bell system,” where students are required to put electronic devices, including cell phones, watches and ear buds into YONDR pouches in the morning when they arrive at school and removing them at the end of the day.
Committee member Kira Thompson said that parents reached out and felt “blindsided” by the decision after a survey in October found that parents, staff and teachers students all felt that the pouches should not be implemented at the middle school.
“Parents feel like they weren’t communicated with, and they were misled saying in October we’re not doing this, there’s no interest in and now we’re going ahead because they didn’t communicate with parents about this,” Thompson said. “I think they’re just really upset with the way it was presented by [West Springfield Middle School Principal] Dr. [Peter] Gillen and then just no other communication until they see an agenda saying that the middle school is getting YONDR pouches.”
Raschilla said that the last time the use of the pouches was communicated to parents was in November.
Committee member Diana Coyne suggested sending out data gathered from the high school to show that there are positive results by utilizing the pouches.
“A lot of the parents may not know what the stats may be as well in fractions or fights at the middle school, that was kind of powerful statistics from the high school level, and I don’t know if that’s something that could be gathered to help parents understand like we have seen tremendous positive results and that might help with giving the message,” Coyne said.
Mayor William Reichelt, who serves as the chair of the School Committee, said that he was also disappointed in the communication about the pouches.
“My understanding was that we were moving forward when we last talked about it last year, and I think there was miscommunication at what the intent of the School Committee and the intent of the administration,” Reichelt said. “I do expect them to spend the summer fixing that communication issue and addressing parents, much like the high school did over the summer last year.”
Committee member Julie Anne Wise also raised the question about the intent of the YONDR pouches was when the number one concern on the survey was student safety.
“Why aren’t we doing something to address that beyond the YONDR pouch? If the concern is safety, what does that look like? And what are the solutions, so parents feel more comfortable with their kids in school without the use of the phone,” she said.
Reichelt said the high school addressed similar concerns about safety when the pouches were introduced there last fall and said he expects middle school staff to address those concerns as well.
During the meeting, the committee also received a presentation about the high school choir’s recent trip to Washington, D.C. On the trip, the choir attended a masterclass at the Catholic University of America with Dr. Peter Kadelli, and saw the sights around the city, including the National History Museum, the National Mall and the Air & Space Museum, before competing in competing in the Heritage Festival at the National City Christian Church.
At the competition, Choir Director Amy Taylor said the choir received a bronze rating for their performance.
“We received a bronze rating, which is an average of 79 points, which for the festival is one point less than silver, which is a really big goal for our group. We’ve only been competing, ever, for a couple of years now and so to be so close already to a silver rating was a really big accomplishment,” she said.
Taylor said that the choir also received the Festival Spirit award, which the choir was most excited about.
“What meant even more to our kids was being chosen for the spirit award, which is only given to one school in the entire festival and it is given to the school and the students who are showcasing themselves to be a community of learners and singers, upholding some of the standards and expectations for the whole festival throughout any of our activities … and they were really excited about that and so was I,” she said. “It matters to go on these trips — it gives these students amazing experiences to bond with one another and to just create some really beautiful music.”
Coyne said that the growth of the choir program was “amazing.”
The committee also recognized students who had received awards from the Massachusetts Foreign Language Association. Lucas Walker-Ray and Angele Ofori were recognized with leadership awards, while Malak Alrubaiy, Joseph Mastromatteo and their teacher Adriana Coverdill received awards for Excellence in World Language Study.
The West Springfield School Committee next meets on June 10.
