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Northeast ISD board adopts districtwide personal device policy effective May 25 with exceptions
Summary
The Northeast Independent School District board approved a revision to policy FNCE(Local) defining the school day for personal communication devices and set an effective date of May 25 with carve-outs for exceptions; the policy passed 5–1 after debate over timing and operational details.
The Northeast Independent School District Board of Trustees on Monday approved a revision to policy FNCE(Local) that redefines the district'wide "school day" for personal communication devices and sets the policy's effective date as May 25, with specified exceptions and follow-up regulations to clarify operations.
Board member Miss Cox moved to adopt the policy as presented with the exceptions; the motion passed 5 to 1, with Mister Beyer recorded as the lone dissent. Chair said the board heard concerns from families and stakeholders during discussion. "I just feel the need to say to parents out there, we heard you," Miss Chigi said during debate.
The revision adopts model Texas Education Agency language to define the school day as from the beginning bell to the end bell at each campus, a change officials said aligns elementary and most middle-school practice and would apply districtwide. Mr. Jarrett, a district staff member who answered operational questions at the meeting, said a regulation will be written after board adoption to operationalize exceptions and family communications. "Once the policy is adopted, that has to happen first, then we go in and write a regulation to operationalize it," he said.
Board members debated whether to delay implementation to give families, students and administrators time to prepare. Miss Cox urged a clear timeline because the meeting came close to the end of the school year; Miss Chigi suggested adopting for the 2026'27 school year as an option. The board ultimately approved the policy with the May 25 effective date and instructions to staff to write regulations and update the most appropriate public materials (handbook or regulation) so families can understand how exemptions and emergency uses will be handled.
The board did not disclose personnel names during the discussion and no additional fiscal impacts were presented as part of the policy item. The board will return the approved language to staff for the promised regulations and a clean version of the policy for final administrative posting.
