Easton Area School District Cell Phone Policy (2026)

Easton Area School District enrolled 7,928 students in 2024-25 according to federal data. Lehigh Daily lists it as one of only three Lehigh Valley districts with a posted all-grade ban, along with Allentown and Whitehall-Coplay.

Easton Area phone rules today

From Easton Area's handbooks:

• High school: "Cell phones and headphones are not permitted to be out in class and should be kept in a locker." Students in in-school suspension turn phones over to the proctor, and refusing can lead to out-of-school suspension.
• Elementary and middle: devices are powered off and out of sight all day, including lunch and hallways.
• Exceptions: reporting describes medical or disability needs as the exception.

What Act 117 requires of Easton 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	Easton Area today	What changes by 2027-28
No student use for the whole school day, including homeroom, lunch, recess and passing time	All grades; high school phones in lockers	Confirm the high school rule covers lunch and passing time, not only class.
The board decides how possession is restricted (taking phones is not required)	Lockers (high school); off and out of sight (elementary, middle)	No change needed.
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 or disability needs	Add English learner translation, 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	Not stated	Optional one-day principal exception with notice 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	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	Handbooks	Board policy posted, announced each year and verified to PDE.

Where LockedIn fits

Easton's high school uses lockers. LockedIn locks students' own phones from an admin dashboard with nothing to collect, which covers students who keep a phone in a pocket instead, and can run alongside locker storage.

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 Easton area

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