SWAMPSCOTT — The school district will unroll a controversial program requiring students and teachers to keep their cellphones in magnetically locked pouches throughout the school day in January.

Earlier this fall, Swampscott Public Schools received a $30,000 grant from the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to implement a pilot program using magnetically locking phone pouches from the company Yondr during the 2023-24 school year.

While the program aims to combat instances of cyberbullying and cut out social media’s perceived social and educational detriment on children and teenagers, it prompted pushback from some students and parents, who argued that the program will prevent students from calling for help in an active-shooter scenario.

School Committee member Amy O’Connor expressed her dismay with the program’s implementation at Thursday night’s School Committee meeting.

O’Connor also extended an apology to all students exempted from Yondr who need to use their cellphones for assistance or health purposes and will have to “out themselves” when the program rolls out.

“Basically, this tells kids who’ve been doing their job all along that they can’t be trusted… the idea of spending $20,000 on these pouches versus educational programming I think is lazy and performative and fiscally irresponsible. Except for kindergarten funding, I can’t remember the last time that we accepted a grant knowing that it was certainly going to add to our operating budget,” O’Connor said.

School Committee member John Giantis also expressed disappointment in the fact that the implementation of Yondr will move forward. He said he wished the district would have explored “less intrusive” disciplinary measures to mitigate cellphone distractions before locking them in pouches.

Giantis said he was also concerned with the program’s potential safety implications in the event of an emergency.

“I saw something this morning about an incident in Lowell. Some folks were posing as Verizon workers or something trying to get into a school building. Nothing happened, but it just makes you think, ‘What if it was one of our schools and something happened? ” Giantis said.

In response to Giantis and O’Connor’s comments, Superintendent of Schools Pamela Angelakis said that the FBI previously warned the district about possible intruders prior to Thanksgiving, giving the district plenty of time to monitor its security systems. Angelakis also said that based on what she’s seen at Swampscott High School, the program is worth a try.

“I have been in classrooms at the high school here, and I’ve been disappointed by how much TikTok is being watched during classes. How many phones are put like this (hidden behind a laptop),” Angelakis said. “I’ve witnessed administrators going in, talking to the class, and students aren’t paying attention because they’re watching videos.”

Angelakis added that on one occasion she saw a student field hockey player repeatedly watching footage of a player getting injured during a Nov. 2 game. She said that roughly 73% of SHS teachers support trying the pilot program, and close to 90% of them acknowledged that there was “a real cellphone problem” at the school.

The district will hold a meeting on Dec. 13 to present the Yondr program to parents. Before the program commences in January, Angelakis said SHS will consider using locked boxes that can only be accessed by teachers in the event of an emergency to store cell phones.