West Mifflin Area School District Cell Phone Policy (2026)

West Mifflin Area School District in Allegheny County enrolled 2,437 students in 2024-25 according to federal data. It began planning for the state ban in spring 2026.

West Mifflin Area phone rules today

Citizen Portal reported on April 10, 2026 that a board committee began planning for a state-mandated student phone ban for 2027-28 and that the district was talking with vendors about solutions that would collect phones for the day and return them at dismissal, with options to be reviewed over the summer.

The 2025-26 handbook, as summarized, keeps elementary and middle school phones in lockers all day, while high schoolers may use phones at lunch, in hallways and for teacher-directed lessons.

What Act 117 requires of West Mifflin 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	West Mifflin Area today	What changes by 2027-28
No student use for the whole school day, including homeroom, lunch, recess and passing time	K-8 lockers; HS lunch and hallway use	End high school lunch and hallway use.
The board decides how possession is restricted (taking phones is not required)	Lockers; collection vendor under review	Aligned on method once extended to high school.
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	Teacher-directed instructional use	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	Handbook rules	Board policy posted, announced each year and verified to PDE.

Where LockedIn fits

West Mifflin Area is shopping for a way to collect and return phones. LockedIn locks students' own phones from an admin dashboard with nothing to collect, so there is no daily collection and return to staff, and it can run alongside the lockers the K-8 schools 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 West Mifflin

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