Hempfield School District Cell Phone Policy (2026)

Hempfield School District in Lancaster County enrolled 6,918 students in 2024-25 according to federal data. (Hempfield Area School District in Westmoreland County is a different district.) In 2024 its board chose not to add phone restrictions. Act 117 now sets the rule.

Hempfield phone rules today

From Hempfield High School's 2025-26 handbook, citing Board Policy 237:

• In class: phones, earbuds, AirPods, Meta glasses and smartwatches are put away on entering class, in a teacher-designated spot or in backpacks.
• Allowed times: arrival, transitions between classes, lunch and dismissal.
• Never: speakers, voice or video calls (students go to their office), use during the WIN period, or use in restrooms, locker rooms or the nurse's office.
• Repeat problems lead to a parent meeting, a usage contract or a personal device ban, under the school's STEP discipline process.

At Landisville Middle School, phones stay in lockers all day.

The 2024 decision. LNP reported that in June 2024 a board committee decided not to pursue new restrictions after hearing from secondary administrators and the student council president. Tenth grade principal Patrick Conrad said phones may not be out during learning time.

What Act 117 requires of Hempfield 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	Hempfield today	What changes by 2027-28
No student use for the whole school day, including homeroom, lunch, recess and passing time	High school arrival, transitions, lunch and dismissal allowed	End use during transitions and lunch.
The board decides how possession is restricted (taking phones is not required)	Teacher-designated spot or backpack during class	Extend restriction to the whole day.
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	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	Calls go through the office	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 policy posted, announced each year and verified to PDE.

Where LockedIn fits

Hempfield High already bans phones in restrooms and during WIN. LockedIn locks students' own phones from an admin dashboard with nothing to collect, which could extend that to lunch and transitions without new 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 Hempfield area

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