Laurel Highlands School District Cell Phone Policy (2026)

Laurel Highlands School District in Fayette County enrolled 2,690 students in 2024-25 according to federal data. Its 2024 rules drew a student petition to revoke the high school ban.

Laurel Highlands phone rules today

Administrative regulations approved on August 20, 2024 bar device use in school buildings, on school grounds during the school day and on district transportation without a designated adult supervisor. Phones, watches and earbuds must be turned off before entering the building or a bus, kept out of sight and stored in lockers or other areas the administration designates. The regulations say the supervised-use allowance "does not include hallways or the cafeteria during the school day."

Visible devices are confiscated and held in the main office. A first offense brings a warning conference; a second, a parent call; chronic or flagrant offenders may have to turn the device in at the start of each day. Students who refuse to hand one over are treated as insubordinate. Parents can call the main office to forward messages, and students may use office phones with permission.

Pushback

A student-started Change.org petition asked the district to "Revoke the Phone Ban For Next Year at Laurel Highlands High School."

What Act 117 requires of Laurel Highlands 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	Laurel Highlands today	What changes by 2027-28
No student use for the whole school day, including homeroom, lunch, recess and passing time	Off and stored all day, including hallways and cafeteria	Aligned with the whole-day rule.
The board decides how possession is restricted (taking phones is not required)	Lockers or designated areas	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	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	Use with a designated adult supervisor at events	Teacher use must meet Act 117's three conditions; other exceptions capped at one day. Supervised use during the school day must fit those limits.
Written notice each year and on enrollment: a staffed way to reach your child, and how to sign up for emergency notifications	Main office forwards messages	Written notice each year and on enrollment of a staffed contact method and emergency sign-up. Add the emergency sign-up notice.
Tell families, teachers and students about the policy each year; verify to PDE within 5 business days that it is posted online	Administrative regulations (Aug. 20, 2024)	Board policy posted, announced each year and verified to PDE.

Where LockedIn fits

Laurel Highlands already runs a whole-day lockers rule. LockedIn locks students' own phones from an admin dashboard with nothing to collect, so students without a usable locker are covered and the office does not have to hold confiscated phones, alongside the lockers.

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 Laurel Highlands area

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