Williamsport Area School District Cell Phone Policy (2026)

Williamsport Area School District in Lycoming County enrolled 4,750 students in 2024-25 according to federal data. Its high school uses a color-coded zone system.

Williamsport Area phone rules today

Williamsport Area High School's Electronic Device and Cell Phone Usage page defines devices broadly, including smartwatches, wired or wireless headphones, tablets, handheld game consoles, laptops and laser pointers. The building is split into zones:

• Red Zone (Restricted): classrooms, restrooms, physical education, locker rooms and the nurse's office. Use is strictly forbidden; the phone goes in the backpack and must be "invisible, inoperable, and inaudible."
• Yellow Zone (Regulated): library, gym, auditorium, main office, principal's office and guidance office, where staff may restrict use.
• Green Zone (Permitted): silent, appropriate use in the cafeteria, the commons before and after school, hallways between classes, the bus and extracurricular activities.

For emergencies, a phone is available in the main office; students ask a teacher for permission to go. The 2024-25 middle school handbook required phones off, out of view and generally in lockers.

What Act 117 requires of Williamsport 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	Williamsport Area today	What changes by 2027-28
No student use for the whole school day, including homeroom, lunch, recess and passing time	Green Zone use in the cafeteria, hallways and on the bus	Eliminate Green Zone use during the school day.
The board decides how possession is restricted (taking phones is not required)	Backpack in Red Zones	Backpack storage can continue if it covers the whole 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	Not stated on the zone page	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	Staff discretion in Yellow Zones	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	Main office phone for student emergencies	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	Zone page and handbooks posted	Board policy posted, announced each year and verified to PDE.

Where LockedIn fits

Williamsport's Red Zone rule already keeps phones in backpacks in class. LockedIn locks students' own phones from an admin dashboard with nothing to collect, so the district could turn the Green Zones red for the school day while phones stay in backpacks.

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 Williamsport

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