Pittsburgh Public Schools Cell Phone Policy (2026)

Pittsburgh Public Schools (PPS) is Pennsylvania's second-largest district, with 19,571 students in 2024-25 according to federal data. Starting in fall 2026, PPS students turn their phones in to school staff for the school day. That puts Pittsburgh ahead of most Pennsylvania districts on the state's new bell-to-bell law, with a few details left to line up.

Pittsburgh's phone rules today: Policy 216

Pittsburgh's rule is Board Policy 216, Electronic Devices. Most Pennsylvania districts use Policy 237 for this; PPS does not. On December 17, 2025, the board revised the policy:

• Use and possession are both restricted. Students may not use or possess electronic devices during the school day on district property, including buses and school activities during school hours.
• Phones are turned in. Students may bring a device but must turn it in to school personnel while school is in session. The district said it would give each school procedures for collection, storage and return.
• Exceptions cover health, safety or emergency needs, an IEP or 504 plan, approved instructional activities, and "other circumstances" approved by school administrators.
• Start date: the 2026-27 school year.

Before the change, each school set its own rules, and 44 PPS schools already required students to turn in phones. Superintendent Wayne N. Walters said, "This updated policy reflects what we know supports student learning."

How Pittsburgh schools have stored phones

Pittsburgh schools have tried several storage methods:

• Barack Obama Academy of International Studies was the first PPS school to use Yondr pouches, starting in 2021. KDKA reported that in 2024-25 its middle schoolers kept Yondr while high schoolers moved to bubble mailer pouches.
• Brashear High School used bins and file folders holding bubble envelopes, according to KDKA.

Under the revised Policy 216, each building follows district procedures for collection and return.

What Act 117 requires of Pittsburgh 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	Pittsburgh today	What changes by 2027-28
No student use for the whole school day, including homeroom, lunch, recess and passing time	Use and possession prohibited during the school day (Policy 216, Dec. 2025)	Little change. Confirm the procedures count lunch, homeroom and passing time as part of the school day.
The board decides how possession is restricted (taking phones is not required)	Students turn devices in to staff	No change needed. Turn-in is allowed, and Act 117 protects staff who secure phones in good faith.
Required exceptions: documented medical need of the student or an immediate family member, IEP or 504, English learner translation, limited teacher-approved instructional use	Health, safety or emergency; IEP or 504; approved instruction	Add the English learner translation exception and a family member's documented medical need. Narrow instructional use to Act 117's three conditions.
Optional: a principal may approve another exception for up to one school day, with notice to the superintendent within 5 days after	Broad "other circumstances" approved by administrators	Replace with the one-day principal exception, reported to the superintendent 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 addressed in the policy summary	Send the annual contact and emergency sign-up notice to every family.
Tell families, teachers and students about the policy each year; verify to PDE within 5 business days that it is posted online	Policy posted on BoardDocs	Send annual notice of the policy and file the posting verification with PDE.

The open question for Pittsburgh is its emergency exception. Policy 216 lets students use devices for "health, safety or emergency" reasons, while Act 117's required exceptions are limited to documented medical needs, IEP or 504 plans, English learners and limited instructional use. Counsel should review whether Pittsburgh's emergency language fits within those, or within the one-day principal exception.

Where LockedIn fits

Pittsburgh already collects phones, so the daily work is collection, storage and return in every building. LockedIn locks students' own phones from an admin dashboard with nothing to collect. Where a building wants to cut the time spent collecting and returning phones, it could run alongside that storage or in place of daily turn-in, subject to the board's policy and counsel's review.

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 Pittsburgh

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