At least one Kansas district is projecting $150,000 to $180,000 just to equip secondary students with individual phone lockers, according to the Wichita Eagle. The state provided zero dedicated funding. Every dollar comes from local budgets.
Districts choosing fabric locking pouches — think Yondr, the magnetic-lock system concert venues use to keep audiences present — face an estimated $30 per unit. Statewide, the Kansas Division of the Budget put that figure at roughly $13.4 million if every student received one, according to the Lawrence KS Times. Lockers require a steeper upfront investment. Neither option came with a state check attached.
Legislators passed the policy. The price tag was someone else’s problem.



6 digits? When I was in school the teachers tossed them in a cardboard box
Cardboard boxes are $2 each (go price them at the local home depot). Figure 20 teachers per school (this seems low), and 10 schools per district (this is low), and we are already at $400. Cardboard boxes will not last very long, so we are also replacing them 5 times a year: $2000/year. I expect this lockers are higher quality and will last for a few decades.
I remember a math teacher I had in high school. There was this one girl at the front of the class that would not get off her RAZR flip phone and it was buzzing constantly while she was texting people.
He warned her that if she didn’t put it away, he’d toss it out the window, and she could find it after school let out. She flipped him off and started texting again.
He took it and tossed it out the open window (on the first floor), into the grass. Then 20 minutes later it started raining. 😂
Yeah, that works too. Easy.