Bald Eagle Area School District Cell Phone Policy (2026)

Bald Eagle Area School District in Centre County enrolled 1,489 students in 2024-25 according to federal data. It tightened its rules in 2024 with different limits for middle and high school.

Bald Eagle Area phone rules today

WJAC reported on September 9, 2024 that Bald Eagle Area's new policy, which also covers smartwatches, gives middle school students in grades 6 through 8 no access to phones for the entire day, 8 a.m. to 3:10 p.m., with phones kept in lockers until dismissal. At the high school, use is banned during school hours except at breakfast, lunch and between classes, and is prohibited in class, study halls, locker rooms, bathrooms and assessments. In class, phones go in a designated area for safekeeping until the period ends.

Consequences

A first violation means the phone is confiscated until the end of the day. A second bars the student from bringing devices to school for 10 days, and a third brings the same restriction plus two detentions. A device needed for a health reason is kept in a designated location, according to WJAC.

What Act 117 requires of Bald Eagle Area 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	Bald Eagle Area today	What changes by 2027-28
No student use for the whole school day, including homeroom, lunch, recess and passing time	MS all day; HS open at breakfast, lunch, passing	The middle school is aligned; the high school must close breakfast, lunch and passing.
The board decides how possession is restricted (taking phones is not required)	MS lockers; HS classroom safekeeping area	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	Health devices in a designated location	Add family 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	Not stated	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	Not stated	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	District policy (2024)	Board policy posted, announced each year and verified to PDE.

Where LockedIn fits

Bald Eagle Area already proved the all-day rule at its middle school. LockedIn locks students' own phones from an admin dashboard with nothing to collect, so the high school can match it without collecting phones each period, alongside the lockers already in use.

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 Wingate

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