Bethlehem Area School District Cell Phone Policy (2026)

Bethlehem Area School District (BASD) enrolled 12,769 students in 2024-25 according to federal data. It adopted a new phone policy for 2025-26, and neighbors such as Parkland have pointed to it as the stronger model.

Bethlehem Area phone rules today

BASD's "Focused Learning" FAQ lays out the rules:

• K-8: no phone use during school hours, including lunch and hallways.
• High school: use is limited to non-instructional time, such as the hallway or cafeteria. Otherwise phones are silent and away unless authorized for instruction or an emergency.
• Before and after school: use is allowed while waiting to enter and after dismissal.
• Family contact: students reach parents through the main office or student service center, and parents call the school.
• Exceptions: IEP, 504 or an Individual Health Plan. Administrators may approve use in advance for emergencies, school events or instruction.
• Consequences: a first time, students are told to put the phone away. A second time, staff call the office to confiscate it, followed by a restorative conversation.

Superintendent Jack Silva told WFMZ, "K-12, it is a classroom-free, device-free classroom where the phones are away, not on their bodies."

What Act 117 requires of Bethlehem 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	Bethlehem Area today	What changes by 2027-28
No student use for the whole school day, including homeroom, lunch, recess and passing time	K-8 all day; high school non-instructional use allowed	End high school hallway and cafeteria use.
The board decides how possession is restricted (taking phones is not required)	Silent and away, not on the student's body	No change needed in method; extend it to the whole day at the high school.
Required exceptions: documented medical need of the student or an immediate family member, IEP or 504, English learner translation, limited teacher-approved instructional use	IEP, 504, Individual Health Plan	Add English learner translation, a family member's documented medical need, and limits on instructional use.
Optional: a principal may approve another exception for up to one school day, with notice to the superintendent within 5 days after	Administrators may approve in advance for emergencies, events, instruction	Limit ad hoc approvals to one school day, reported 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	Main office and student service center	Put the staffed contact method and emergency 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	FAQ and policy published	Annual notice and PDE posting verification.

Where LockedIn fits

BASD keeps phones away from students' bodies rather than collecting them. LockedIn locks students' own phones from an admin dashboard with nothing to collect, so it fits that approach and could cover the high school's hallway and lunch time once Act 117 applies.

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 Bethlehem

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