Garnet Valley School District Cell Phone Policy (2026)

Garnet Valley School District in Delaware County enrolled 4,449 students in 2024-25 according to federal data. It deliberately chose not to adopt a bell-to-bell ban, which puts it on the wrong side of Act 117.

Garnet Valley phone rules today

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported on April 17, 2026 that Garnet Valley formed a committee of administrators, teachers, students, parents and board members in 2024. The result: phones banned at the elementary level, middle schoolers allowed to use them at lunch, and a high school rule that phones stay in backpacks or a designated holder during class, depending on the teacher.

The 2025-26 Student/Parent Handbook bars devices during instructional time, including assemblies and performances, and allows middle and high school use before school, in passing, at lunch and after school. A first violation means the device is held for the period with a parent call.

Why Garnet Valley stopped short of a ban

"It became very, very clear that just banning phones was not going to do anything to solve the upstream problems," Superintendent Marc Bertrando told the Inquirer. Student council president Zander Sereni said a bell-to-bell ban would be "extremely unpopular." The district's Screen Smart GV work, presented to the board in March 2026, uses student-led programming, including high schoolers visiting elementary classes.

What Act 117 requires of Garnet Valley 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	Garnet Valley today	What changes by 2027-28
No student use for the whole school day, including homeroom, lunch, recess and passing time	MS lunch use; HS before school, passing, lunch and after school	End middle and high school lunch and passing use.
The board decides how possession is restricted (taking phones is not required)	Backpack or teacher holder in HS classes	Choose a whole-day method.
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 in reports	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-by-teacher in HS classes	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	Handbook board-approved June 18, 2025	Board policy posted, announced each year and verified to PDE.

Where LockedIn fits

Garnet Valley's concern was teaching students to manage phones, not just removing them. Act 117 makes a full-day rule mandatory by 2027-28. LockedIn locks students' own phones from an admin dashboard with nothing to collect, so phones stay with students, which answers the pickup and coach-text worries raised in committee, while still meeting the law.

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 Glen Mills

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