West Shore School District Cell Phone Policy (2026)

West Shore School District enrolled 7,467 students in 2024-25 according to federal data. Its Policy 237 is unusually detailed, and its definition of the school day already includes lunch and passing time.

West Shore phone rules today

West Shore's Policy 237, Electronic Devices, and its administrative regulations were adopted June 27, 2022 and last revised April 28, 2025:

• The school day includes lunch and passing time in the policy's definitions.
• During instructional periods, devices are off and away, in lockers, backpacks or designated storage such as phone caddies.
• Elementary and middle school: no use without prior principal permission for a legitimate educational purpose or another urgent or compelling reason.
• High school: every classroom has a secure storage area, a lockable box or designated shelf, where phones go at the start of class. Students may use phones before and after school, at lunch in designated areas and during passing time.
• Who enforces: "Teachers are not responsible for storing or confiscating phones. Enforcement will be administrated by the school administration." Frequent violators get a student assistance assessment and restorative practices.
• Smartwatches are treated like phones.
• Emergencies: parents contact the school office, which relays messages. Parents confirm each year that they reviewed the policy.

What Act 117 requires of West Shore 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 Shore today	What changes by 2027-28
No student use for the whole school day, including homeroom, lunch, recess and passing time	Elementary and middle no use; high school lunch and passing time allowed	End high school lunch and passing-time use. The policy's definitions already match Act 117.
The board decides how possession is restricted (taking phones is not required)	Lockable classroom boxes or shelves at the high school	Extend restriction to the rest of the day.
Required exceptions: documented medical need of the student or an immediate family member, IEP or 504, English learner translation, limited teacher-approved instructional use	Principal permission for educational or "urgent or compelling" reasons	Add the four required exceptions by name.
Optional: a principal may approve another exception for up to one school day, with notice to the superintendent within 5 days after	Principal permission for other urgent reasons	Cap at one school day with notice 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	Parents call the office; the office relays messages	Already in practice. Add emergency sign-up and send it each year and on enrollment.
Tell families, teachers and students about the policy each year; verify to PDE within 5 business days that it is posted online	Parents confirm annual review	Already close. Add the PDE posting verification.

Where LockedIn fits

West Shore already takes enforcement off teachers. LockedIn locks students' own phones from an admin dashboard with nothing to collect, which fits that approach: administrators set the rule once, and it applies at lunch and between classes too. It can run alongside the classroom lockboxes.

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 the West Shore

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