Committee places relationship-with-law-enforcement policy on first-reading track after clarification about past edits

The New Hanover County Schools policy committee on Jan. 21 discussed revisions to policy 5120, which governs the district’s relationship with law enforcement, and voted to place the item on the agenda for a first reading at a future full-board meeting.

Committee members reviewed redlined edits in the draft that reflected prior board attorney changes. Several members said the coloring and marginal notations in the packet were confusing; staff clarified that red text represented previous board-approved language and blue text showed the board attorney’s later additions. Members pressed for clarity about whether a clause referencing notification to the superintendent had been removed and asked that the current attorney review the draft to confirm which edits were deletions versus additions.

One committee member raised a substantive concern about protections for students older than 16 with cognitive disabilities, noting that statutory protections that limit the admissibility of statements without a parent/guardian presence apply only to children under 16. Members discussed whether the policy should explicitly address exceptions or protections for students with cognitive impairments. Committee members agreed the item should follow the standard policy-reading cycle rather than be fast-tracked to a final vote, because the previous approval history and redline changes required attorney review.

The committee voted to present policy 5120 to the full board as a first reading at the next meeting and to ask counsel to confirm the intended edits and the appropriate approval cycle.

Ending: Staff will ask district counsel to clarify the redline history and will post policy 5120 as a first-reading item on the full board’s upcoming agenda.