McKeesport Area School District Cell Phone Policy (2026)

McKeesport Area School District in Allegheny County enrolled 2,883 students in 2024-25 according to federal data. It went phone free at its middle and high schools in 2024-25.

McKeesport Area phone rules today

The Mon Valley Independent reported that in May 2024 the board approved a $60,100 purchase of 2,200 Yondr pouches for McKeesport Area High School and Founders Hall Middle School. Starting in 2024-25, students place phones in a pouch on entering school, keep the pouch with them all day and unlock it at designated stations at dismissal. The pouches hold a phone, a smartwatch and earbuds.

Why

"Our purpose for this is to reduce the distraction, any bullying or anything during the school day," board member Matthew Keller said at the May 15, 2024 meeting. New high school principal Eric Harper wrote to families: "We believe that phones have great utility. We have also found that learning and social behavior improve drastically when students are fully engaged with their teachers and classmates."

What Act 117 requires of McKeesport 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	McKeesport Area today	What changes by 2027-28
No student use for the whole school day, including homeroom, lunch, recess and passing time	Pouched all day at MS and HS (since 2024-25)	Aligned with the whole-day rule; extend to elementary schools.
The board decides how possession is restricted (taking phones is not required)	Students keep sealed pouches	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; pouched phones must be reachable for medical needs.
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	Board purchase vote and handbook	Board policy posted, announced each year and verified to PDE.

Where LockedIn fits

McKeesport Area already runs pouches at two schools. LockedIn locks students' own phones from an admin dashboard with nothing to collect, so there are no pouches to replace or unlock stations at dismissal, and it can run alongside the pouches while the district decides what to renew.

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 McKeesport

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