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Pennsylvania Act 117: Questions to Ask Your School
Check Pennsylvania’s Act 117 status, ask your school for its current phone instructions, and record the separate plan for homework at home.
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A headline about Pennsylvania’s school phone legislation can leave a family with a practical question: what should we do with the phone tomorrow? Start with the school’s current instructions and keep a separate note for homework at home.
The Pennsylvania General Assembly’s Senate Bill 1014 page records approval by the Governor on 26 October 2026 and lists Act No. 117 of 2026 as its last action. That is the official status record checked for this guide. The questions below help you find the instructions for your child’s school without guessing from a headline.
Record the action and the school’s answer
Keep the bill-page reference beside the school notice you actually receive. A useful note includes the notice’s date, who sent it, and the contact for questions. If you have not received instructions, write “awaiting school confirmation” rather than filling the gap from a news story.
- Record
- Official action
- Put on the note
- SB 1014; Act No. 117 of 2026; Governor approval dated 26 October 2026
- Who confirms it
- Pennsylvania General Assembly bill record
- Record
- School instructions
- Put on the note
- The current notice, its date, device arrangements and contact route
- Who confirms it
- Your child’s school
- Record
- Homework at home
- Put on the note
- The assignment, device, intended start and end, and any access question
- Who confirms it
- The household, with school help for required tools
| Record | Put on the note | Who confirms it |
|---|---|---|
| Official action | SB 1014; Act No. 117 of 2026; Governor approval dated 26 October 2026 | Pennsylvania General Assembly bill record |
| School instructions | The current notice, its date, device arrangements and contact route | Your child’s school |
| Homework at home | The assignment, device, intended start and end, and any access question | The household, with school help for required tools |
Ask about the part of the day you need
A parent arranging pickup may need a different answer from a student carrying a school laptop. Ask the school for the details that affect your day:
- Which current written instructions should this family follow, and from what date?
- Which devices do those instructions address, and what should the student bring?
- How should a parent reach the student during the school day or when pickup changes?
- Who handles questions about required learning tools or an individual access arrangement?
These are questions to take to the school. This guide does not decide which schools or exceptions the legislation covers, or when a particular school must change its practice.
Give homework a usable device plan
Write down where the assignment opens and which device will be used. A school-issued laptop may need an administrator’s help; a personal phone may have a household control that a parent or supervisor manages. Record the person to ask for each problem.
For example, “worksheet on paper; calculator available; phone parked during the agreed work period” is a household plan. If a teacher supplies a link, record the link’s purpose and the device that can open it. Check access before relying on that plan.
Keep a school contact route beside the device note. An unanswered policy question and a missing assignment link need different answers, even if both involve the same phone.
Carry the home plan into a routine
On a supervised Android phone, a StudyLumen homework routine can apply one selected app rule set during the agreed window. The authorized supervisor saves that routine after deciding which tools the assignment needs.
If another tool is needed, a temporary access request requires supervisor approval and ends at the grant’s recorded end time. Approval changes StudyLumen access only; school management and other active controls still need their own authorized changes.
Keep the notice with the plan
When the school sends revised instructions, replace the old notice on your note and resolve any remaining questions with its named contact. Keep the homework task and device current as assignments change. A readable record is more useful than an act number copied into every blank.
Sources
- Pennsylvania General Assembly: Senate Bill 1014. Official action history, including 26 October 2026 approval and Act 117; checked 3 November 2026.