Onslow County Schools policy committee forwards multiple policy revisions, including new cell-phone rules, to full board

The Onslow County Schools Policy Committee voted Aug. 26 to forward a package of revised board policies to the full school board for consideration at its Sept. 2 meeting, including a revised wireless communication devices policy and several changes tied to state statutes and reporting requirements.

The revisions cover multiple policy codes in the district packet and would be placed on the board’s consent agenda, committee members said. Committee presenter Mr. Anderson told members the packet contains markups based on state-level legal and policy updates shared at statewide law-and-policy symposia.

"Policies are living documents and they change in accordance to what the board desires to see in them," Anderson said, noting updates come from recent changes in state law and guidance. He told the committee some changes are time-sensitive because the district must submit policy language to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (DPI).

The committee discussed several specific changes included in the packet. Revisions to parental-involvement and school-trip policies add language mirroring state statute that prohibits students from sharing sleeping quarters with someone of the other biological sex during school-sponsored overnight trips unless the other person is an immediate family member or all parents involved give written permission. Changes to the parental-inspection policy also expand the definition of “parent” to include a legal guardian, custodian or other adult authorized to enroll a student, and add web access to school library catalogs via Destiny so parents can search title listings.

The committee spent the most time on the proposed wireless communication devices policy. Anderson said the policy defines "instructional time" and generally prohibits students from turning on, using or displaying personal wireless devices during instructional time while preserving exceptions. He described the policy’s stated exceptions for students who need devices under an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or Section 504 plan for medical reasons and for use in emergencies. Anderson said the policy also allows principals to restrict device use during noninstructional time and may prohibit device use on buses if it interferes with safe operation.

Committee members recommended adding smartwatches to the list of device types covered by the policy. "Some places are adding smartwatches to the list of impermissible wireless communication devices," member Katie said; the committee agreed to include them.

Brad (last name not specified in the transcript) corrected an earlier timing statement about DPI reporting: the law creating the reporting requirement becomes effective Jan. 1, 2026, and the revised policy must be submitted to DPI by Sept. 1, 2026, he said. "We can make these edits, but we're not under duress," Brad said, adding the committee would be ahead of the curve by moving the revisions now.

Other, shorter revisions in the packet replace the phrase "epinephrine auto-injector device" with "epinephrine delivery system" across multiple medical-related policies — the committee noted this reflects broader delivery methods such as nasal options — and add a cross-reference in the transportation service/vehicle contracts policy requiring individuals acting as drivers under contract (citing general statute 115C‑253 in the packet) to submit to criminal-history checks described in the district’s recruitment policy (policy 7100).

Committee members asked staff to clarify a few drafting points before the full board sees the packet: updating instances of the word "borrowing" in a library policy to read "borrowing, checking out, or accessing," confirming where Destiny links will appear on school websites, and specifying how schools should implement confiscation procedures so that staff understand the appropriate process.

The committee voted to move the packet to the full board for the Sept. 2 meeting under the consent agenda; the motion was seconded and approved. The committee also approved the meeting agenda and the minutes from the June 17, 2025, meeting earlier in the session, agreed not to hold a policy committee meeting in September, and adjourned.

Documents in the packet and the committee’s discussion identify specific policy codes for the revisions, including: 1310/4002 (parent involvement), 3210 (parental inspection of and objection to instructional materials), 3320 (school trips), the wireless-communication-device policy (listed in the packet as 4318 or similar numbering), multiple medical/epinephrine-related codes (listed in the packet as 5024, 6127 and related numbers), and 6340 (transportation service/vehicle contracts). The packet includes legal references to "general statute" language; the transcript cites a statutory reference used in the transportation contract language as "general statute 115C‑253." The packet also notes the DPI reporting requirement linked to the wireless-device policy.