Pa. students soon won't be able to use cellphones in school. Here's what to know about the ban

Pennsylvania lawmakers this week passed a bill banning cellphones in schools, joining states across the country amid mounting backlash to technology in classrooms and social media addiction.

Gov. Josh Shapiro, who previously called for a so-called bell-to-bell ban, is expected to sign the measure into law soon.

“It’s time to get back to the basics in school and let our kids be kids,” the Democratic governor said in a post on X on Wednesday, after the House and Senate had passed the bill.

The bill will require schools to bar kids from using cellphones throughout the school day, starting next fall. Here is what to know about the new rule and how schools are reacting:

A ban on ‘mobile devices’

Under the bill, both public and private K-12 schools will be required to prohibit students from using personal mobile devices from the start of the school day to the end.

That applies to cellphones, but also to other internet-connected devices, like smartwatches, according to the bill.

Thirty other states — including New Jersey — have already passed bell-to-bell cellphone bans, according to Education Week.

Before the 2027-28 school year begins, Pennsylvania schools will have to adopt policies describing how they intend to prohibit students from using their phones.

“For too long, access to a phone-free school day depended on which school a student attended,” Alex Bird Becker, a Wallingford-Swarthmore parent and coleader of PA Unplugged, a statewide advocacy group, said in a statement. “Once this law takes effect, every student in the Commonwealth will have freedom from addictive algorithms, from the first bell to the last.”

Exceptions for medical and special needs

The bill allows a number of exceptions for “limited use” of a phone:

— Students who need phones due to a medical condition.

— Students with individualized education plans or 504 plans that require phones as an accommodation.

— Students who are English learners who use phones for translation.

Teachers can also permit students to use phones “for instructional purposes,” if a school-issued device is inadequate or unavailable and the principal approves the use, according to the bill. Principals can also apply to their chief school administrators for exceptions.

The law was supported by the Pennsylvania State Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union. President Aaron Chapin said the law “takes an essential step toward reducing distractions for students during class time and keeping lessons and teaching on track.”

How schools are responding

While most school districts already have policies related to cellphones in place, the bill will require many districts to restrict phones more than they already do. Many area high schools allow students to use their phones between classes and at lunch, which will be barred by the bill.

At the 1,600-student Garnet Valley High School in Delaware County, “we don’t have the manpower” to have staff at three different entrances used by students, telling them to put their cellphones away, Superintendent Marc Bertrando said.

Instead, he expected responsibility would fall to first-period teachers — and teachers throughout the day, given a lack of adequate supervision to enforce a ban in hallways between classes.

While “you try to minimize conflict points with students,” Bertrando said, he anticipated more conflict as a result of the ban, “especially if we’re going to get down to the level of ‘Let me see that watch.’” He also predicted pushback from parents used to being able to reach their children directly during the school day. (The bill says schools must provide parents with a phone number or email address to be used for receiving messages during school.)

Bertrando noted that Garnet Valley had worked to produce a policy supported by teachers, parents, and students that restricted, but did not entirely bar, cellphone use by middle and high school students during the school day.

“To take that away from us is incredibly frustrating,” Bertrando said.

The Pennsylvania School Boards Association believes “elected school boards should retain the flexibility to determine the approach that best serves their students and communities,” spokesperson Mackenzie Christ said.

While Pennsylvania previously offered schools money to buy lockable cellphone pouches, few took the state up on the offer.

A number of districts have been preparing for new restrictions. Lower Merion in Montgomery County, which has faced parental pressure to adopt a bell-to-bell ban, has said it would enact one in 2027-28, regardless of whether the state required it.

The Philadelphia School District currently allows individual schools to set their own cellphone rules, though the system-wide policy says that district students “should not use cellphones or wearable devices in classrooms unless permitted by a school staff member, or permitted by this policy expressly. Each school shall create their own protocols that designate areas within the school and times of day where student use of cellphones” is permitted during school hours.

That looks different in different buildings. Some schools require students to secure cellphones in lockers outside the building; others require students to place phones in sealed pouches. In some cases, students have access to phones in hallways and the cafeteria, but surrender phones when entering individual classrooms.

Wanda Odom, a spokesperson for the Philadelphia school board, said the board “recognizes the impact excessive cellphone use can have on student learning and well-being.”

“While current district policy allows schools to establish their own cellphone restrictions, the district will work with principals, educators, students, and families to inform the development of a districtwide policy for consideration and adoption by the board of education ahead of the 2027-28 school year, consistent with the new state legislation,” Odom said in an email Thursday.

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(Staff writers Kristen A. Graham and Gillian McGoldrick contributed to this article.)