An Act amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949, in school safety and security, establishing the Cell Phone Lockable Bag Pilot Program.

PRINTER'S NO. 175
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE BILL
No. 229
Session of
2025
INTRODUCED BY MASTRIANO, FONTANA, BROWN, HUTCHINSON, GEBHARD AND
VOGEL, FEBRUARY 3, 2025
REFERRED TO EDUCATION, FEBRUARY 3, 2025
AN ACT
Amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), entitled "An
act relating to the public school system, including certain
provisions applicable as well to private and parochial
schools; amending, revising, consolidating and changing the
laws relating thereto," in school safety and security,
establishing the Cell Phone Lockable Bag Pilot Program.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. The act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known
as the Public School Code of 1949, is amended by adding a
section to read:
Section 1322-B. Cell Phone Lockable Bag Pilot Program.
(a) Establishment.--The Cell Phone Lockable Bag Pilot
Program is established in the committee . The purpose of the
program shall be to provide funding to cover the costs of
purchasing secure cell phone lockable bags. The committee shall,
within 90 days of the effective date of this section and subject
to availability of funds, award grants to successful applicants
and ensure that grant funding under the program is
geographically dispersed throughout this Commonwealth. The
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number of applicants chosen shall be contingent upon the amount
of funding allocated.
(b) Duties.--A school entity that participates in the
program must:
(1) Create a school entity policy that prohibits the use
of cell phones during school time and requires students to
use cell phone lockable bags , provided that nothing in the
policy shall prohibit a school employee from using a cell
phone during school time to perform the employee's work. The
policy shall provide for exemptions for students who have a
documented medical condition that necessitates the use of the
phone, such as diabetes. The school entity's adopted policy
shall be posted on the school entity's publicly accessible
Internet website.
(2) Track changes over the course of two school years in
student mental health, incidents of bullying, incidents of
violence and academic performance and submit that information
to the committee . The committee shall develop a uniform
report method for the school entity to use to track each of
the metrics.
(c) Report.--The committee shall submit to the Governor and
the General Assembly a report on the program utilizing the data
submitted to the committee and shall include the report in the
school safety annual report required under section 1302.1-B(7) .
The report may not contain any identifiable information
regarding a student. Any information submitted by school
entities as part of the program, the disclosure of which would
be reasonably likely to result in a substantial and demonstrable
risk of physical harm or the personal security of students or
staff shall remain confidential and shall not be subject to the
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act of February 14, 2008 (P.L.6, No.3), known as the Right-to-
Know Law. The committee may release aggregate data at its
discretion.
(d) Expiration.--This section shall expire December 1, 2026.
(e) Definitions.--As used in this section, the following
words and phrases shall have the meanings given to them in this
subsection unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Cell phone lockable bag." A reusable, secure case, pouch,
or bag that has a locking mechanism and can be used to store
cell phones and other smart devices.
"Program." The Cell Phone Lockable Bag Pilot Program.
"School entity." Notwithstanding section 1301-B, a school
district, intermediate unit, area career and technical school,
charter school, regional charter school, approved private
school, nonpublic school, chartered school for the education of
the deaf or the blind or private residential rehabilitative
institution.
Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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