Colonial School District Cell Phone Policy (2026)

Colonial School District in Montgomery County enrolled 5,713 students in 2024-25 according to federal data. (Colonial School District in Delaware is a different district.) Its own guidelines say they are "subject to change based on what's decided by the state."

Colonial phone rules today

Colonial's electronic device guidelines, published in its 2025-26 Year in Review:

• K-5: phones may come to school but are off and in backpacks during school hours and on the bus.
• 6-8: phones are off and in lockers during the school day. Students may use them for games or music while waiting for dismissal from their morning location, but not for calls, texts or recording.
• 9-12: phones may be used at the teacher's discretion or in "technology-safe zones," such as hallways during transitions and the cafeteria.

The guidelines add: "These rules are subject to change based on what's decided by the state."

What Act 117 requires of Colonial 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	Colonial today	What changes by 2027-28
No student use for the whole school day, including homeroom, lunch, recess and passing time	K-5 backpacks; 6-8 lockers with morning wait use; 9-12 hallways and cafeteria	End middle school morning use once students are on campus, and end high school safe zones.
The board decides how possession is restricted (taking phones is not required)	Backpacks, lockers	Extend lockers or another method to 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	Not stated	Write in all four required exceptions.
Optional: a principal may approve another exception for up to one school day, with notice to the superintendent within 5 days after	Teacher discretion at the high school	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	Guidelines published	Board policy posted, announced each year and verified to PDE.

Where LockedIn fits

Colonial already uses Securly for district devices. LockedIn does a similar job for students' own phones during the day, locking them from an admin dashboard with nothing to collect, which could replace the high school safe zones.

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 the Plymouth Whitemarsh area

Act 117's definition of "school entity" includes private schools, approved private schools and nonpublic schools, so the Plymouth Whitemarsh area'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.