Neshaminy School District Cell Phone Policy (2026)

Neshaminy School District enrolled 9,419 students in 2024-25 according to federal data. Its high school uses classroom phone pockets, which cover class periods but not the rest of the day.

Neshaminy phone rules today

From Neshaminy's 2025-26 handbooks:

• Neshaminy High School: phones go in classroom phone pockets during each class period. Misuse leads to discipline.
• Elementary: students may bring phones but must turn them off on arrival and keep them out of sight during school hours. Smartwatches stay in bags. A phone used in violation is held until the end of the day, and after a second offense a parent must pick it up.

We did not find whether high school students may use phones at lunch or in hallways.

What Act 117 requires of Neshaminy 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	Neshaminy today	What changes by 2027-28
No student use for the whole school day, including homeroom, lunch, recess and passing time	High school: phone pockets each class; non-class use not confirmed. Elementary: off and out of sight	If high schoolers use phones at lunch or between classes, that must end.
The board decides how possession is restricted (taking phones is not required)	Classroom phone pockets	Pockets cover class time only; decide how phones are restricted between periods.
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	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	Handbooks	Board policy posted, announced each year and verified to PDE.

Where LockedIn fits

Phone pockets mean students pick their phones back up at the end of each class. LockedIn locks students' own phones from an admin dashboard with nothing to collect, so it could cover the time between classes and run alongside the pockets.

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 Neshaminy area

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