Pennsylvania Act 117 School Phone Law: What It Requires

What Act 117 requires

On October 26, 2026, Gov. Josh Shapiro approved Senate Bill 1014. The General Assembly records the last actions as "Approved by the Governor, Oct. 26, 2026" and "Act No. 117 of 2026, Oct. 26, 2026." The Act 117 page says the act was enacted from SB 1014 on Oct. 26, 2026, and that it is effective immediately. The act document itself is not posted on that page yet. The requirements below are from Printer's No. 1697, the text the governor approved. It adds Section 1314-A, "Bell-to-Bell Mobile Device Policy," to the Public School Code of 1949.

No later than the start of the 2027-28 school year, each school entity's governing body must adopt a policy on student possession and use of mobile devices during the school day while on school property. The policy must:

1. Prohibit student use of a mobile device during the school day while on school property, except for the uses the act lists.
2. Set how possession is restricted during the school day. Nothing in the act requires a school to take possession of a student's device. If a policy lets an employee take a device, the school and the employee are not liable for loss or damage when the employee acted in good faith under the policy.
3. Include enforcement and oversight provisions to ensure compliance at each school building.
4. Tell families how to sign up for emergency notifications. Written notice goes to parents and legal guardians at the start of each school year and on enrollment. The notice covers students, parents, and legal guardians.
5. Tell families how to contact their child during the day, for example the building phone number or an email address. Written notice is due at the start of each school year and on enrollment, and the contact method must be staffed during the school day.

At the start of each school year, the school entity must tell parents, legal guardians, teachers, and students about the policy and about any changes since the previous year. No later than five business days after posting the policy or an amended policy, the school entity must send the Department of Education documentation that the policy is posted on its public website. A school entity that already had a phone policy must amend it, if needed, by the start of the 2027-28 school year.

Section 2 says the act takes effect immediately. The text does not appropriate money and does not create a grant.

What counts as the school day and a mobile device

• School day: "the entirety of every instructional day during all instructional and non-instructional time," as the governing body determines it, including homeroom periods, lunch, recess, and time moving between classes.
• Mobile device: a personal phone or other portable device that can connect to the internet and that the school does not own or issue. The definition includes a device that can call, message, send data or images, record or play audio or video, play a game, or show video. It does not include a portable device that meets the definition of a device under 21 U.S.C. § 321, or a dual-use watch if its Wi-Fi and data are disabled.

Who it covers

"School entity" means a school district, intermediate unit, area career and technical school, charter school, regional charter school, private school, approved private school, nonpublic school, or cyber charter school operating in Pennsylvania.

The chief school administrator is the superintendent of a school district, the executive director of an intermediate unit, the chief executive of a charter school, cyber charter school, regional charter school, or multiple charter school organization, or the governing body (or equivalent) of a nonpublic school, private school, or approved public school. The act uses "approved private school" in the school-entity definition and "approved public school" in the chief-school-administrator definition.

Required exceptions

Every policy must allow limited use for a student who:

• Needs a device because of a documented medical condition of the student or an immediate family member, documented by a medical provider.
• Has an IEP or 504 service agreement that includes a mobile device as an accommodation or service.
• Is an English learner using the device for translation or other English as a second language purposes.
• Has a teacher's permission for educational use during instructional time, but only if a school-issued device is insufficient or unavailable, the principal determines the use is appropriate, and the approval is for a limited circumstance and duration, not a regular part of instruction.

Optional principal exception

A policy may let a building principal approve another exception. The principal must notify the chief school administrator or a designee. The notice states the purpose, the date, time, and duration, and who it applies to. The exception may not last more than one school day, and the notice is due no later than five days after the day it was used. "Principal" includes assistant and vice principals, the supervisor of special education, and the director of career and technical education.

Emergencies

The act has no separate exception for student phone use during an emergency. Its emergency provision is the written notice of how families, students, and guardians sign up for emergency notifications. A school that wants students to use phones in a specific situation would need to fit that into the optional principal exception or another provision in the act, so counsel should review emergency procedures against Printer's No. 1697.

Timeline

• October 10, 2025: SB 1014 introduced and referred to Senate Education.
• February 3, 2026: Senate passes SB 1014, 46-1.
• May 6, 2026: House amends SB 1014 on second consideration (Printer's No. 1697).
• October 19, 2026: House passes SB 1014, 141-62.
• October 21, 2026: Senate concurs in the House amendments, 47-3.
• October 26, 2026: Approved by the governor. Act No. 117 of 2026. Effective immediately.
• Start of 2027-28: deadline to adopt the policy, or to amend an existing policy if it does not yet comply.

What it means for your school

Many Pennsylvania districts already restrict phones in some way, but many allow phones at lunch or between classes. Act 117's school day includes that time. See how districts compare on our Pennsylvania district page.

Checklist for administrators

• Compare your current policy (often Policy 237) with the act's definition of the school day. Lunch, homeroom, recess, and passing time are included.
• Pick a method for restricting possession. The act does not require the school to take the phone. Lockers, backpacks, pouches, classroom storage, phone-locking software, or a mix can all be a local choice.
• Write in all four required exceptions, including the immediate-family medical exception and English learner translation.
• Decide whether to use the optional one-day principal exception, and set up the five-day notice to the chief school administrator.
• Prepare the written family notice of a staffed contact method and emergency-notification sign-up, for the start of each year and on enrollment.
• Plan the annual notice to families, teachers, and students, and the five-business-day Department of Education posting verification.
• Have counsel review emergency procedures against the act.

Private and parochial schools

Act 117 covers private schools, approved private schools, and nonpublic schools, along with school districts, intermediate units, career and technical schools, charter schools, and cyber charter schools. Those schools face the same 2027-28 deadline.

Where phone-locking software fits

The act leaves the method of restricting possession to each school. LockedIn locks students' own phones automatically on campus during the school day, with nothing to collect, and flags workarounds by student name on the admin dashboard. It can run alongside lockers, pouches, or classroom storage where a school uses them. One tap from an administrator starts Emergency Mode on every phone on campus: calls to 911 and family always work, and students check in as safe or needing help. Act 117 has no student emergency-use exception, so schools should have counsel review how that fits their policy. Software does not replace a written board policy, and the act does not require any particular product.

Draft a policy that tracks Act 117 with our policy generator.

How Pennsylvania districts are carrying it out

The law sets the floor; each district writes its own policy on top of it. Here is what large Pennsylvania districts have adopted, from their own published policies:

• • School District of Philadelphia: No districtwide rule: under Board Policy 237 each school sets its own protocol. Students generally may not use phones in class unless a staff member allows it, and devices are banned in bathrooms and locker rooms.
• • Pittsburgh Public Schools: Since 2026–27, Board Policy 216 bars students from using or possessing devices during the school day; a student who brings a phone turns it in to staff.
• • Allentown School District: Policy 237 bans student phone use all day in every grade: phones stay off and out of sight, with longer confiscation for repeat violations.
• • Downingtown Area School District: For 2026–27, K–8 is bell to bell with phones off and stored; at the high school, phones go into classroom storage during instruction and may be used at lunch and in designated passing periods.
• • Bethlehem Area School District: No phone use during school hours in K–8, lunch and hallways included; high schoolers may use phones only in non-instructional time, such as in hallways or the cafeteria.
• • Central Dauphin School District: Phones must be “off and away” for the entire school day under Board Policy 237 and the 2025–26 Code of Conduct.
• • Upper Darby School District: Policy 237 bars phone use all day in elementary and middle school; high schoolers may not use phones in class but may at lunch and between classes.

The other 136 Pennsylvania district pages each compare that district’s own rule with the law: see Pennsylvania school districts.

State money for it. Pennsylvania school safety / phone-policy funding (post-Act 117) (Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) School Safety and Security Committee): 2026–27 School Safety & Mental Health Grants: $138.8 million statewide, by formula ($100,000 base per district plus an amount by enrollment). Eligible: PA school districts, intermediate units, CTCs and charter schools. Act 117 signed Oct 2026; implementation funding varies by program. SB 1014 became Act 117 of 2026 on Oct. 26, 2026 and carries no funding of its own. PCCD’s 2026–27 School Safety & Mental Health Grants closed Oct. 16, 2026. Official source.