His friend Alexander Rolon, 14, pointed out that having a cell phone would allow students to report when fights happen outside the school building. He added, however, that some students use their phones to record fights as well. 

Both students agreed the $1 a day for phone storage was too much money. 

But it has not dissuaded many students on the campus from using the service. The Little Kitchen owner David Tibi, 34, who opened the stand in February 2013, said he checks almost 400 cell phones in each day. Students receive a black identification card with a number on it after depositing their phones. They return the card at the end of the day when they pick up their phones. 

Losing the card, Mr. Tibi said, is like losing your phone. Though he said his business would be fine if the cell phone ban is lifted, as most of his profits come from food purchased by students throughout the day, he felt allowing phones into school was a bad idea. 

“They create a lot of trouble,” he said of the students. “They’re already trouble without their phones.” 

Down the street, his competitor James, who runs the “Electronic Valet” truck and also charges students $1 per phone but does not offer food services, said he would be out of business if cell phones are allowed in schools. 

“Why would they want to do that? It’s going to mess my business up,” he said.   

He added cell phone use in schools, particularly smart phone use, could be good for students, were they to be used for educational purposes. 

Many educators have mixed feelings about the cell phone ban. 

Bronx Theater Principal Charles Gallo, one of the seven principals on the Kennedy Campus, said he felt phones are a distraction in class, but acknowledged student safety, as well as communication between students and their parents, are pressing issues.  

“Parents tell me all the time, I’m concerned,” he said, referring to parents who believe their students would be safer in school if their cell phones were allowed. 

“I understand the parents’ concerns — I’m a parent myself,” he said.