Towanda Area School District Cell Phone Policy (2026)

Towanda Area School District in Bradford County enrolled 1,488 students in 2024-25 according to federal data. It tightened its rule for the 2025-26 school year.

Towanda Area phone rules today

The Daily Review reported on August 22, 2025 that Towanda Area Junior/Senior High School students may not use phones at any point in the school day, except at lunch for grades 9 through 12. Phones are to be out of sight and are confiscated if seen. The earlier rule allowed phones as long as they did not interrupt learning, which Superintendent Erick Cummings said was hard for teachers to monitor. "It allows students to engage more in their education and takes away some of the stress and anxiety of social media and peer pressure throughout the day," Cummings said. "I just think all the students need to put the cell phones away and re-engage with their education."

The posted rule

The school's cell phone policy page, as summarized in search results, has phones off and stowed, no lunch use for grades 7 and 8, cafeteria-only lunch use for grades 9 through 12, exceptions with prior administrator approval including medical needs, and progressively longer bans on bringing a phone.

What Act 117 requires of Towanda 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	Towanda Area today	What changes by 2027-28
No student use for the whole school day, including homeroom, lunch, recess and passing time	All day except grades 9-12 lunch	End high school lunch use.
The board decides how possession is restricted (taking phones is not required)	Off, stowed, out of sight	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	Prior administrator approval, including medical	List family 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	School cell phone policy (2025)	Board policy posted, announced each year and verified to PDE.

Where LockedIn fits

Towanda's rule is close to Act 117 already, and the gap is high school lunch. LockedIn locks students' own phones from an admin dashboard with nothing to collect, so teachers no longer have to spot phones to confiscate them.

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 Towanda

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