SB 229 — 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
 1   Amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), entitled "An
 2      act relating to the public school system, including certain
 3      provisions applicable as well to private and parochial
 4      schools; amending, revising, consolidating and changing the
 5      laws relating thereto," in school safety and security,
 6      establishing the Cell Phone Lockable Bag Pilot Program.
 7      The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
 8   hereby enacts as follows:
 9      Section 1.     The act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known
10   as the Public School Code of 1949, is amended by adding a
11   section to read:
12   Section 1322-B.    Cell Phone Lockable Bag Pilot Program.
13      (a)   Establishment.--The Cell Phone Lockable Bag Pilot
14   Program is established in the committee. The purpose of the
15   program shall be to provide funding to cover the costs of
16   purchasing secure cell phone lockable bags. The committee shall,
17   within 90 days of the effective date of this section and subject
18   to availability of funds, award grants to successful applicants
19   and ensure that grant funding under the program is
20   geographically dispersed throughout this Commonwealth. The
 1   number of applicants chosen shall be contingent upon the amount
 2   of funding allocated.
 3      (b)   Duties.--A school entity that participates in the
 4   program must:
 5            (1)   Create a school entity policy that prohibits the use
 6      of cell phones during school time and requires students to
 7      use cell phone lockable bags, provided that nothing in the
 8      policy shall prohibit a school employee from using a cell
 9      phone during school time to perform the employee's work. The
10      policy shall provide for exemptions for students who have a
11      documented medical condition that necessitates the use of the
12      phone, such as diabetes. The school entity's adopted policy
13      shall be posted on the school entity's publicly accessible
14      Internet website.
15            (2)   Track changes over the course of two school years in
16      student mental health, incidents of bullying, incidents of
17      violence and academic performance and submit that information
18      to the committee. The committee shall develop a uniform
19      report method for the school entity to use to track each of
20      the metrics.
21      (c)   Report.--The committee shall submit to the Governor and
22   the General Assembly a report on the program utilizing the data
23   submitted to the committee and shall include the report in the
24   school safety annual report required under section 1302.1-B(7).
25   The report may not contain any identifiable information
26   regarding a student. Any information submitted by school
27   entities as part of the program, the disclosure of which would
28   be reasonably likely to result in a substantial and demonstrable
29   risk of physical harm or the personal security of students or
30   staff shall remain confidential and shall not be subject to the

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 1   act of February 14, 2008 (P.L.6, No.3), known as the Right-to-
 2   Know Law. The committee may release aggregate data at its
 3   discretion.
 4      (d)   Expiration.--This section shall expire December 1, 2026.
 5      (e)   Definitions.--As used in this section, the following
 6   words and phrases shall have the meanings given to them in this
 7   subsection unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
 8      "Cell phone lockable bag."    A reusable, secure case, pouch,
 9   or bag that has a locking mechanism and can be used to store
10   cell phones and other smart devices.
11      "Program."   The Cell Phone Lockable Bag Pilot Program.
12      "School entity."   Notwithstanding section 1301-B, a school
13   district, intermediate unit, area career and technical school,
14   charter school, regional charter school, approved private
15   school, nonpublic school, chartered school for the education of
16   the deaf or the blind or private residential rehabilitative
17   institution.
18      Section 2.   This act shall take effect in 60 days.




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