The Durham Public Schools Board of Education moved to restore and clarify language in Policy 51‑20, which governs the district’s relationships with law enforcement.

Administration explained that elements present in an earlier policy (4321, 2017) were omitted during a policy manual transition and that committee work identified five areas to address, including: reporting and recordkeeping when warrants are served; FERPA‑compliant access to student information by school resource officers; procedures for immigration‑related requests and notifications to the superintendent and board; interpreter requirements when law enforcement interacts with limited‑English‑proficiency students and families; and publishing memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with law‑enforcement agencies on the district website.

Board members discussed specific wording changes requested by the policy committee: replacing voluntary language with stronger requirements where appropriate (for example, changing 'whenever feasible' to 'shall, except in cases of emergency' to preserve necessary flexibility for true emergencies), clarifying which MOUs would be posted and whether to single out the sheriff’s office, and refining directions about interpreter availability and operational responsibility. The board voted to waive second reading and adopted the committee’s amendments on first reading; further wordsmithing on interpretation language will be handled by the policy committee and returned for additional review in January.

Board members requested clearer delineation in the policy between school resource officers (SROs) and other law enforcement, and suggested considering a separate SRO policy as some peer districts have done. Administration noted that naming a single agency (the sheriff) in policy could reduce flexibility for future MOUs; the board directed the committee to continue drafting to clarify those relationships and return with recommendations.