HARRISBURG, Pa. – A bill banning cell phones in the classroom is now law in Pennsylvania.

Gov. Josh Shapiro signed the measure Monday at Lenape Middle School in Doylestown.

It requires schools to adopt a bell-to-bell ban starting in the 2027- 2028 school year. The bill was approved last week by the State Legislature.

Officials have said removing phones will reduce classroom distractions and improve students’ mental health.

“I think students need to spend less time focused on their phones and a whole lot more time focused on learning and developing those social skills with their neighbors,” Shapiro said.

Starting with the 2027–28 school year, phones will be off limits during class, lunch, recess, and between classes.

It’s a stricter version of the policy already in place at Central Bucks West High School, where students have to put their cell phones in a pouch on the wall before class gets started. Teacher Christie Besack said it’s made a difference.

“It’s just been so nice to have students back and engaged, not only with me, but with one another,” said Besack.

But she still remembers what it was like two years ago, before the ban at her school went into place.

“It was a constant sort of game of whack-a-mole, of having kids put away their phone or stop texting. Constant management of it, and it really was taking away from instructional time,” said Besack.

“We shouldn’t have teachers telling our students every two minutes, ‘Hey, put your phone down, put your phone down,’” said Sanjana Chamarty, a senior at Central Bucks South High School.

Chamarty said phones were such a distraction; she didn’t even want hers in her pocket.

“Even having your phone silenced or turned off, but having it still next to you, your brain is still exerting energy to not look at it, and that itself is another distraction,” said Chamarty.

“I’m just really happy for teachers across the state that they’ll get to experience what I’ve already experienced for the last two years,” said Besack.

In a news conference Monday at Lenape Middle School, Governor Josh Shapiro said Pennsylvania did research to put statistics to just how distracting phones can be.

“Our administration did a survey back in 2025, and it found that a quarter of students reported using their phones to check on social media for four hours a day during the school day. That’s not okay,” said Shapiro.

In the Tulpehocken Area School District, students already put their phones away during lessons but can use them in certain areas.

“They’re banned in the instructional side unless the teacher has the discretion to use them, and we’ve also operated under that there are some areas where students can use them responsibly,” Superintendent Dr. Andrew Netznik said.

The district must now rewrite its policy. The law does not require schools to collect the phones, but each district must decide how to keep them away.

Netznik says he supports banning phones during class but questions taking away all local flexibility.

“How you want to navigate the other pieces, that’s great,” Netznik said. “I’m 100 percent on board with that. But a blanket, bell to bell, I’m skeptical.”

There are exceptions for students with disabilities, those with medical needs, students in special education, certain approved lessons, and English learners who use their phones for translation. As for parents being able to communicate with their children during the school day, the law requires schools to come up with a procedure and to let parents know the process to contact their child.

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