Greenville Area School District Cell Phone Policy (2026)

Greenville Area School District in Mercer County enrolled 1,236 students in 2024-25 according to federal data. It adopted its phone rule in 2025.

Greenville Area phone rules today

The Record-Argus reported on December 17, 2025 that Greenville Junior/Senior High School ended 2024-25 as "the only school in Mercer County without a policy prohibiting cellphones." Under the new Electronic Devices and Cellphone Policy, students in grades 7 through 12 keep phones silenced and secured in their lockers all day, except during their assigned 30-minute lunch. "We thought we were behind the times of where the county was," said co-principal Dan Nemeth, who started the policy after a staff survey in which most senior high teachers favored some kind of ban.

Senior Bella Whiteman said, "I can pay more attention in class and don't have that urge to check it since it's not in my pocket."

Concerns on the board

School board member and parent Laura Leskovac called the rule unfair to older students: "You can't treat a 12th grader the same way you treat a seventh grader." She also raised safety: "Sadly, in today's age, where we have to have active shooter drills, we have to worry about the safety of the classroom itself. Taking the phones away isolates the parent from their student." The paper reported that the district added two resource officers, upgraded its walkie-talkie system and received a state safety grant.

What Act 117 requires of Greenville 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	Greenville Area today	What changes by 2027-28
No student use for the whole school day, including homeroom, lunch, recess and passing time	All day except 30-minute lunch, grades 7-12	End lunch use.
The board decides how possession is restricted (taking phones is not required)	Lockers	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	Not stated	Add 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	Electronic Devices and Cellphone Policy (2025)	Board policy posted, announced each year and verified to PDE.

Where LockedIn fits

Greenville's board heard the safety worry directly. LockedIn locks students' own phones from an admin dashboard with nothing to collect, so phones can stay with students rather than in lockers, and Emergency Mode unlocks every phone on campus at once, subject to counsel review.

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 Greenville

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