Allentown School District Cell Phone Policy (2026)

Allentown School District (ASD) enrolled 16,769 students in 2024-25 according to federal data. It is one of only three Lehigh Valley districts with a posted all-grade ban, along with Easton Area and Whitehall-Coplay, according to Lehigh Daily. Most of Act 117 is already in place in Allentown.

Allentown phone rules today

ASD's rule is Policy 237, Electronic Devices, and the 2026-27 Student and Family Code of Conduct:

• All grades, all day. The policy prohibits student use during the school day in buildings, on district property, on buses and while under district supervision. Use in locker rooms, bathrooms and health suites is banned at any time.
• Off and out of sight. Phones must be off and out of sight, used only with administrator approval.
• Medical devices are excluded. Devices with a bona fide medical purpose or that aid a disability are not covered.
• Escalating holds. A first offense brings a warning and parent contact. A second means confiscation and a parent conference to collect the phone. Third, fourth and fifth offenses mean the district holds the phone for 3, 5 and 10 school days. Offenses are logged in PowerSchool.

District spokeswoman Melissa Reese has said limiting classroom access "improves academic performance, reduces cyberbullying during the school day, and fosters face-to-face social interaction."

What Act 117 requires of Allentown 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	Allentown today	What changes by 2027-28
No student use for the whole school day, including homeroom, lunch, recess and passing time	Use banned all day in all grades	No change in scope.
The board decides how possession is restricted (taking phones is not required)	Off and out of sight; staff confiscate after violations	No change needed. Multi-day holds are a local discipline choice Act 117 does not address.
Required exceptions: documented medical need of the student or an immediate family member, IEP or 504, English learner translation, limited teacher-approved instructional use	Medical and disability devices excluded	Add the English learner translation exception, a family member's documented medical need and the limited instructional-use exception.
Optional: a principal may approve another exception for up to one school day, with notice to the superintendent within 5 days after	Use only with administrator approval	If kept, cap ad hoc approvals at one school day with notice to the superintendent within 5 days.
Written notice each year and on enrollment: a staffed way to reach your child, and how to sign up for emergency notifications	Families reach students through school offices; ParentSquare alerts	Put the staffed contact method and ParentSquare sign-up in a written notice each year and on enrollment.
Tell families, teachers and students about the policy each year; verify to PDE within 5 business days that it is posted online	Policy posted online	Send annual notice of the policy and verify the posting to PDE.

Allentown serves a large English learner population, so the translation exception matters here more than in most districts. Act 117 requires it outright, not only when a Chromebook is unavailable.

Where LockedIn fits

Allentown relies on students keeping phones off and on staff confiscating them after violations, with holds of up to 10 school days. LockedIn locks students' own phones from an admin dashboard with nothing to collect, which could cut down on confiscations and the parent pickups that come with them. It can run alongside ASD's off-and-away rule.

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 Allentown

Act 117's definition of "school entity" includes private schools, approved private schools and nonpublic schools, so Allentown'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.