The Burleson Independent School District Board of Trustees on Aug. 11 approved an emergency adoption of revisions to local policy FNCE to implement new legislative requirements regarding student personal communication devices.

Brenda Stover presented the change as recommended by the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) and said administrators advised the district to require that personal communication devices be "safely stowed away" to avoid interfering with instruction. Stover told trustees administrators preferred the stow-and-store approach rather than a full prohibition and described the adoption as necessary to comply with state law and roll out ahead of the upcoming school year.

"Our administrators back here have decided that's the better of the 2 options, and so the policy recommended by TASB is just that, keeping a personal communication device safely off and away, and so it doesn't interfere with campus activities, classroom instruction, bell to bell all day long," Stover said.

The board approved Update 125 and the DEC local policy earlier on the consent items and then approved the emergency adoption of FNCE under board policy BF local; trustees voted by voice with no recorded opposition.

The emergency adoption enables campus leaders to apply the new device rule immediately for the start of the school year; the policy provides for discipline for students who do not comply. District officials said the policy aligns with changes required by the recent legislative session and directed staff to implement the rule for the new term.

Trustees described the change as administrative and legislative compliance rather than a new local initiative; specifics of disciplinary consequences and operational roll-out will be administered by campus leaders and communicated to families before school starts.