Penn Manor School District Cell Phone Policy (2026)

Penn Manor School District in Lancaster County enrolled 5,458 students in 2024-25 according to federal data. Its written policy is already close to bell to bell. What happens in the high school, by the superintendent's own account, is not.

Penn Manor phone rules today

Policy 237, Electronic Communication Devices (adopted September 13, 2010) says students shall not use devices during instructional and noninstructional time in the school day, which it defines to include homeroom, study halls, lunch and time between classes, unless a teacher or administrator authorizes classroom instructional use. A device that is visible, on or off, or that can be heard counts as "use." A phone that is off and out of sight in a backpack, locker, pocket, purse or vehicle does not.

Devices are also barred in locker rooms, lavatories and the nurse's office. Students who belong to a volunteer fire company, ambulance or rescue squad may carry devices under the School Code.

Policy versus practice

In LNP's 2024 roundup of Lancaster County policies, Superintendent Phil Gale described elementary and middle school phones staying in a backpack or locker all day, but said high school students can take phones out between classes, at lunch and in some classes during independent work. He called enforcing a total prohibition the biggest challenge, saying the phone "has become such a big part of our normal life." That practice is looser than the policy text.

What Act 117 requires of Penn Manor 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	Penn Manor today	What changes by 2027-28
No student use for the whole school day, including homeroom, lunch, recess and passing time	Policy bans use including homeroom, lunch and passing time; HS practice reportedly allows lunch and passing use	Policy text already matches; practice at the high school must change.
The board decides how possession is restricted (taking phones is not required)	Off and out of sight, in a backpack, locker, pocket or vehicle	Out of sight is a possession method; the board must state it in the amended policy.
Required exceptions: documented medical need of the student or an immediate family member, IEP or 504, English learner translation, limited teacher-approved instructional use	Teacher or administrator instructional use; emergency responder members	Write in all four required exceptions; the responder exception is not one of them and needs counsel review.
Optional: a principal may approve another exception for up to one school day, with notice to the superintendent within 5 days after	Teacher or administrator authorization	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 posted (2010)	Amended policy posted, announced each year and verified to PDE.

Where LockedIn fits

Penn Manor's policy text is already strict, and the gap is enforcement. LockedIn locks students' own phones from an admin dashboard with nothing to collect, so the 2010 rule can actually hold at lunch and between classes without staff checking pockets, alongside the backpack and locker storage families already use.

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 Millersville

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