Palisades School District Cell Phone Policy (2026)

Palisades School District in Bucks County enrolled 1,377 students in 2024-25 according to federal data. Its phone rule started with parents at a board meeting.

Palisades phone rules today

The Bucks County Herald reported on April 2, 2025 that parents first raised phones during public comment in October 2024, and the board held a community meeting in December with some students. At a March 19, 2025 discussion the board split: several new members wanted phones left in lockers all day, citing studies and Central Bucks, while others said "Palisades is not Central Bucks," that parents want children to have phones all day, and asked for a community survey and how a ban would be enforced. The board sought student help as it moved to a first read.

The tiered policy

Policy 237, as summarized in search results, has elementary devices off and away all day, middle school devices off and away from the first announcement to the last bell including lunch, and high school use barred during instruction but allowed before and after school, between classes, at lunch and in permitted study halls.

What Act 117 requires of Palisades 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	Palisades today	What changes by 2027-28
No student use for the whole school day, including homeroom, lunch, recess and passing time	Elementary and MS all day; HS open outside instruction	Middle school aligned; high school must close lunch, passing and study halls.
The board decides how possession is restricted (taking phones is not required)	Off and away	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	Policy 237 (2025)	Board policy posted, announced each year and verified to PDE.

Where LockedIn fits

Palisades board members questioned how an all-day ban would be enforced. LockedIn locks students' own phones from an admin dashboard with nothing to collect, so the high school can match the middle school rule without staff collecting or checking phones.

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 Kintnersville

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