Tensions are flaring at Frankford High over the school’s cell phone policy and its ability to keep kids’ property safe.
After two fights — including one where a student was so badly injured he was taken out of the school by ambulance — a few dozen students took to the school’s hallways Friday, vocally demanding their phones back.
“We just want to have a say in where our property goes, where our phones go,” said one student, who asked not to be named for fear of being targeted.
Frankford, like many schools in Philadelphia and across the country, has recently moved to get cell phones out of students’ hands during the school day.
At first, Frankford used Yondr pouches to secure students’ phones, but those were easily broken, and the costs of the pouches rose.
Last year, the school installed lockers outside the building, requiring students to deposit phones before the school day started. Students could purchase locks from the school for $5.00, or bring their own locks.
But “there’s been issues,” said one Frankford staffer, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisal. “The area where the lockers are floods, it’s not monitored.”
Some students didn’t love the idea, but it wasn’t until last week that significant tensions began simmering after several phones were stolen from the lockers. School officials said in an email to Frankford staff that five phones were stolen, two from a locker with no lock on it.
“That caused some serious issues in the building,” the staffer said. “A lot of the students said, ‘You’re forcing us to put our phones there, but you’re not protecting them.’”
Believing they knew who stole the phones, some students targeted the alleged thief, spurring a fight inside the school. That student was assaulted — beaten so badly they had to be taken out of the school by ambulance, according to multiple people with firsthand knowledge.
“It was so scary,” said the student who spoke on condition they would not be identified.
Michael Calderone, the school’s principal, addressed the issue with parents in a letter sent home Friday.
“Two wrongs do not make a right,” Calderone wrote. “This type of retaliation and violent behavior are not tolerated here at Frankford.”
Another fight happened the next day outside of school — with some students and some nonstudents — but Frankford officials say it was unconnected to the stolen cell phones. (The student and staffer, however, say the general anger at the school over the phone policy has ratcheted up student issues generally.)
A peaceful student protest planned for Friday turned into a town hall with Calderone. But some at the meeting weren’t satisfied, and ultimately did protest, walking around the school and chanting about wanting their phones back.
“It was students screaming in the hallways,” the student said. “They were saying they felt unsafe, they were saying they were unhappy about the phone lockers.”
Calderone, in the letter sent to families Friday, vowed action.
“No member of our school community should ever have to worry about their items being taken, especially when the belongings are locked up,” Calderone wrote. The principal told parents that the school would provide stronger locks, at no cost to students, and will increase patrols and video surveillance by school security officers. He said he has requested locking gates for either side of the phone lockers.
‘Students don’t feel safe’
The Frankford student said they and others were frustrated by a lack of protection for their phones and poor communication.
The Friday town hall, the student said, yielded little information. Some students were unruly, the student said, but many were respectful and just wanted answers from the administration.
Calderone, according to the student, “said he wasn’t able to put the phone lockers inside the building because he didn’t have enough security, and kids could just get to their phones if they were inside. That happens anyway with the phones outside.”
Frankford is a good school where students have opportunities, the student said. But it feels restless over the phone issue.
“Students don’t feel safe going outside to get their phones,” the student said. “There’s such a big buildup that if you bump into the wrong kid, he’s going to hit you. The fights are just people getting their anger out. We feel like they’re not listening to us.”
Phones are a distraction, the student said; they feel like learning has improved since phone access was removed during the school day.
“But the school district says it isn’t responsible for lost, damaged or stolen goods, and if your mom worked for a year to get you a brand new iPhone 17 and it gets stolen, they’re not buying you a new one,” the student said. “Philadelphia is a dangerous place — we need our phones going to school, going home.”
