Aliquippa School District Cell Phone Policy (2026)

Aliquippa School District in Beaver County enrolled 989 students in 2024-25 according to federal data. Its board approved Yondr pouches in 2025.

Aliquippa phone rules today

Beaver Countian's record of the April 16, 2025 board meeting shows the board approved Yondr phone pouches. The 2026-27 Junior/Senior High School handbook says devices are not permitted at any time during the school day, "including during lunch periods, transitions, or instructional time," and must stay in the student's locked Yondr pouch from entry until dismissal, turned off or in airplane mode. "Please be mindful that students will receive one Yondr pouch. If a device does not fit into the Yondr pouch, it is not permitted into the building."

Consequences and contact

A first violation brings a warning; a second, confiscation and a one-day in-school suspension; further violations, progressive discipline. Students are responsible for the pouch as well as the device. Parents are asked to contact the main office in an emergency rather than calling or texting students. The handbook sums it up as "Locked Phone = Focused Mind = Greater Achievement."

What Act 117 requires of Aliquippa by 2027-28

Gov. Josh Shapiro approved SB 1014 on October 26, 2026. It is Act 117 of 2026, and it took effect that day. The text is Printer's No. 1697 on palegis.us. Every school entity must adopt a bell-to-bell policy by the start of the 2027-28 school year.

Act 117 requires	Aliquippa today	What changes by 2027-28
No student use for the whole school day, including homeroom, lunch, recess and passing time	Entry to dismissal, lunch included	Aligned with the whole-day rule.
The board decides how possession is restricted (taking phones is not required)	Yondr pouches	Aligned: Act 117 lets boards decide possession.
Required exceptions: documented medical need of the student or an immediate family member, IEP or 504, English learner translation, limited teacher-approved instructional use	Staff authorization for educational purposes only	Add medical, IEP/504 and English learner translation.
Optional: a principal may approve another exception for up to one school day, with notice to the superintendent within 5 days after	Staff authorization	Teacher use must meet Act 117's three conditions; other exceptions capped at one day.
Written notice each year and on enrollment: a staffed way to reach your child, and how to sign up for emergency notifications	Main office for emergencies	Written notice each year and on enrollment of a staffed contact method and emergency sign-up.
Tell families, teachers and students about the policy each year; verify to PDE within 5 business days that it is posted online	Board approval (Apr. 2025); handbook (2026-27)	Board policy posted, announced each year and verified to PDE.

Where LockedIn fits

Aliquippa gives each student one pouch and makes students responsible for it. LockedIn locks students' own phones from an admin dashboard with nothing to collect, so there are no pouches to lose or replace, and Emergency Mode unlocks every phone on campus at once, subject to counsel review.

Act 117 has no general student emergency-use exception. The closest tool is the optional principal exception, which is capped at one school day and reported to the superintendent within five days afterward. LockedIn's Emergency Mode unlocks every phone on campus at once, so districts should have counsel review how that fits their emergency procedures and Act 117's exception rules.

Private and independent schools in Aliquippa

Act 117's definition of "school entity" includes private schools, approved private schools and nonpublic schools, so Aliquippa's private, independent and parochial schools need their own bell-to-bell policy by 2027-28. For those schools, the governing body plays the role the superintendent plays in a district, including receiving notice of any principal-approved exception.

Draft a policy that tracks Act 117's required exceptions and family notices with our policy generator.