As you have heard, our policy for phones this year is that they must remain in student lockers from the beginning to the end of the day. Students may check them during passing periods and have them at lunch. This policy will be under review as the year goes along and is subject to change.
Several have raised the concern about subjecting phones to the heat of the lockers. Our Technology Director has said that this is not a matter of concern, and Mr. Sulit in our science department did some further research and investigation (see below). We believe that the electronics will be safe.
However, if you feel uneasy about that, we will provide the option of storing the phone in the office where it's climate-controlled. These phones, though, will not be accessible at all during the school day. They would be turned in before the bell starts the day and picked up only after school.
ResearchWe actually tested the lockers in May and none was over 95°F, and only a few were even close since most of ours are shaded. The 120–150°F numbers being shared online are generally referring to metal enclosures sitting in direct sunlight, which isn’t what we have.
The newer research on smartphone batteries is helpful too. Modern phones use temperature sensors, battery-management systems, and active thermal protections to monitor the battery and adjust how the phone operates when it gets hot. A 2026 peer-reviewed study goes through the advances in smartphone battery technology and thermal management:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590174526002187There is also a 2024 Journal of Power Sources study specifically on cell-phone lithium-ion batteries that could be shared as well.
And probably our best real-world evidence is that kids already store their laptops in these exact same lockers. They’re lithium-ion devices too. Not every kid takes one to every class, and we haven’t seen a pattern of battery issues. Lockers are also being opened about every 50 minutes.
