HARRISBURG, Pa. — The state Senate voted 47-3 Wednesday to pass a bill that would require every Pennsylvania school to bar students from using phones all day, known as a bell-to-bell ban, clearing it for Gov. Josh Shapiro to sign or veto.
Only three of the Lehigh Valley’s 17 school districts, Allentown, Easton Area and Whitehall-Coplay, have posted rules barring phones during the school day in every grade. The rest would have to change theirs by the 2027-28 school year.
The House added provisions from a bill by Rep. Mandy Steele, D-Allegheny, to Senate Bill 1014 and passed it 141-62 on Monday. The Senate accepted those changes Wednesday. Sens. Dawn Keefer, R-31, James Malone, D-36, and Katie Muth, D-44, voted no. Sen. Lisa Boscola, D-18, a co-sponsor, voted yes, her office said. “The legislation will now go to the Governor,” Kurt Derr of Boscola’s office said in an email.
The bill is not law yet. Its page showed no sign Wednesday that Shapiro had received it or acted on it. If he neither signs nor vetoes it within 10 days of its formal presentation, the state constitution makes it law without his signature. If lawmakers adjourn first, he has 30 days after that to file objections.
Shapiro said in an Instagram post Wednesday: “I called for this in my Budget Address and repeatedly urged the legislature to act — and now, we’ve brought Democrats and Republicans together to get this done for our students and our educators.”
What schools would have to do
Every public school district, charter and cyber charter school, career and technical school and private school must adopt a policy by the start of the 2027-28 school year. It must bar students from using phones for the whole school day, including lunch, recess and the time between classes.
Students could still use a phone for a medical condition documented by a provider, their own or an immediate family member’s, when a disability plan calls for it, for translation while learning English, or for a limited lesson a teacher runs with a principal’s approval. Policies may also let principals approve a one-day exception, with notice to the district’s top administrator within five days afterward.
Schools must also tell families how to reach their children during the day and show the state Department of Education within five business days that the policy is posted online.
What the sponsors have said
Prime sponsor Sen. Devlin Robinson, R-37, said in a Senate Democrats news release: “Senate Bill 1014 establishes a clear statewide standard while allowing school districts to decide what works best for their communities.” Co-sponsor Sen. Steve Santarsiero, D-10, said in the same release: “I look forward to seeing Governor Shapiro sign it into law.”
Questions about local control
Malone, one of the three no votes, said on the Senate floor that people in his district have raised concerns about the all-day ban and urged more local flexibility and stronger exceptions for emergencies and special needs, according to video of his remarks. The Pennsylvania School Boards Association asked senators at an October 2025 hearing to leave room for local choices.
In the Lehigh Valley
The other 14 districts set weaker rules, or none, for some grades, or leave them to principals. Seven of the Valley’s 11 state House members voted no in Monday’s House vote.
