NHCS committee updates agenda/records language to align with state law after media concern

The New Hanover County Schools policy committee voted Sept. 11 to revise draft language on agenda and supporting materials so it mirrors state public-records and open-meeting statutes rather than imposing a strict 48-hour availability requirement in all cases. Committee members discussed a media complaint that the district had not consistently posted all attachments tied to the agenda review meeting 48 hours before a board meeting. Staff described operational constraints, including late-arriving contract quotes and last-minute edits to presentations. One staff member explained that many agenda materials are ready at the agenda-review meeting, "but there have been times when stuff had to be tweaked or updated between the agenda review and actually the board meeting." Legal references were discussed in detail during the item. Committee members and staff cited the Public Records Act (discussed in the meeting as "132-6") and open-meetings notice requirements (transcript references to the open-meetings statute as "140-three-three18"). Committee members proposed replacing the rigid 48-hour public posting line with statutory language that requires records be made available at "reasonable times and under reasonable supervision" and "as promptly as possible." That change was intended to align policy with the statute while recognizing practical limits on staff capacity. After discussion the committee approved forwarding the revised language to the full board. Committee members asked staff to continue efforts to make materials available online when feasible, and to document the public-records process used to satisfy statutorily required access. No formal vote tally beyond the committee's unanimous 3-0 committee vote to send the amended policy to the full board was recorded in committee minutes. The committee noted where the legal references in the draft did not match the citations discussed in the meeting and asked staff to correct statutory citations before full-board review.