[{"_1":2,"_112":-5,"_113":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76,88,100],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6148209,"mediaKeyId","5517087-53e12fa6db3aee62b06be9c2ed79d533","parentId",5517087,"title","Committee sends draft cellphone policy to board with three revisions; principals to define local implementation","audioSeconds",2738,"startMs",2069000,"endMs",4807000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=5517087-53e12fa6db3aee62b06be9c2ed79d533&start=2069&end=4807","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5517087-53e12fa6db3aee62b06be9c2ed79d533/thumbnail_2069000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6148209/North-Carolina/Committee-sends-draft-cellphone-policy-to-board-with-three-revisions-principals-to-define-local-implementation","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6148209-86314f8f3df061e33c54413c9c946d2c/orig.mp4?Expires=1770684966&Signature=YPaQ3SBT4QhP5DrolTRsDYo~1e1JPyNpIfkEz8kI7MPOFOutdXra8eGIXScULm5wqGH7YSfaq6buyEL6Uwek3XSw83IxofUNMwUsoabAT0oZzNTumJTJMw9BuO8PlavJuaGvlpIdMazpcPVcYdfeIbgdZ5f2bEe1HwMkp4t-PsKRvOn2j4DI~kemlsAUlLZHV7ncCt9due3NgdpPv3F6dKoZSLd7~1sEljm3L0Hmls1GsQVL322br4CBvLC96UepU95TbvtKCnEgoR3lxLvhBA01bvBkx5bQQQQEbGcDtcXJcK15-r9c09ki4XwvM-IL2~J6lt1naXjhNQsGR7oXsg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Public Schools of Robeson County","date","2025-07-31T15:43:12.787Z","article","The Robertson County policy committee voted to forward a draft wireless-communication-device policy (Policy 4318) to the full board with three requested revisions and follow-up work on enforcement and communications.

District staff described a draft policy written to meet a recently enacted general statute and said they would present the draft to the board with three revisions: explicitly include smartwatches in the definition of wireless devices, revise a sentence to clarify that teachers and administrators may authorize supervised device use during emergencies, and add a clear definition of “emergency.” Committee members voted to send that draft to the full board.

What the draft says (as presented)
- The draft policy allows students to possess wireless communication devices on school property but prohibits devices from being visible, turned on or used during instructional time unless school personnel authorize otherwise. As staff phrased it: “Our proposed policy … does say students are permitted to possess wireless communication devices on school property as long as they are not turned on, used, or displayed during instructional time, or otherwise directed by school rules or school personnel.”
- Staff emphasized exceptions for students with medical needs, managed through Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) or Section 504 plans.
- The draft cites teacher and administrator authority to authorize device use in emergencies; staff proposed wording to require that a teacher or administrator supervising the use do so “in the event of an emergency.” Committee members asked staff to add a formal emergency definition.

Teacher survey and principals’ practices
- Staff said an internal survey of about 444 teachers found mixed views: roughly a third described cell-phone use as a daily disruption and a similar share reported no impact, with responses varying by grade span. About 45 percent favored preventing phone access during the entire school day, and about 34 percent favored limiting access in the classroom.
- Principals described different on-campus practices. Elementary principals cautioned that allowing devices could raise issues for younger students; some middle and many middle/high principals described existing local rules that include turning phones in and storing them in locked locations for the day. Fairmont Middle Principal Dr. Tyndall described a practice used there for three years in which phones are collected at the door, logged and locked for the school day; she said her school has not lost or damaged phones under that system.

Enforcement and timeline
- Staff said the statute requires a district policy by Sept. 1 and that the district has flexibility to refine consequences before a January implementation date; during the meeting staff and committee members discussed finalizing consequences and detailed procedures prior to Jan. 1 and communicating expectations to families at the start of the school year. (Staff did not specify the year in committee discussion.)
- The committee asked administration to define “emergency,” to add smartwatches to the device definition and to revise the draft sentence clarifying supervised emergency use. With those three edits, the committee approved forwarding Policy 4318 to the full board for action.

Speakers quoted or cited in this article are those who spoke during the committee discussion or principals’ presentations; quotes appear verbatim from the meeting transcript.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Policy Committee Meeting of PSRC Board of Education: 7/29/25","oneSentenceSummary","The policy committee voted to forward a draft wireless-communication-device policy to the full board and requested three specific revisions — add smartwatches to the definition, permit supervised emergency use by teachers or administrators, and add a formal definition of “emergency.”","taxTitle","Public Schools of Robeson County, School Districts, North Carolina","taxId",14184,"location","North Carolina","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6148215,"Committee advances grading and credit-recovery changes: numeric credit-recovery grades, averaging rule, cap at 70",273,1474000,1747000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5517087-53e12fa6db3aee62b06be9c2ed79d533&start=1474&end=1747","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5517087-53e12fa6db3aee62b06be9c2ed79d533/thumbnail_1474000.jpg","/articles/6148215/North-Carolina/Committee-advances-grading-and-credit-recovery-changes-numeric-credit-recovery-grades-averaging-rule-cap-at-70","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6148215-1ff6d2c26e3d41c741d39a3dd43201f3/orig.mp4?Expires=1770684966&Signature=hMDhBelkYOvnJ8Gxk00gfy86DEXR6rx2FmyMgjN60zkEzUVbOTMF4dZosWHa7QehhYMP50RkGVY9OwBZiMOwmC0vYc-jNlartR1GQDJtTAcg0JyfKm4qPYd3QPbcPC8bQpHnApumWk8xu4HhF1UyH6IDXyNKpeXPDhzRLi8-s9nGr7Iz4-Udtm9k4EyAZuJB4t3t1-GpBV9lFC~4~Z3RQxWplPcZ-g5aHp2XTE-etvhYXtuZzrAV9IQtEID9dMHGj8eJ5edKEWPP7-o1rMkvopkw7wYsStJ96cGMIDVDt76tt2QIYP~5HY0tBIvOoMW7E6edYdUUEU8Ul9QlmaxGqQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Robertson County policy committee reviewed proposed changes to grading and credit-recovery rules that staff said reflect State Board policy changes.

District staff reported that the State Board changed how credit recovery is calculated. Under the draft policy language presented to the committee, credit recovery for core courses will no longer operate as a simple pass/fail; instead, the district will compute a numeric grade by averaging the student’s original course grade and the credit-recovery grade. Staff said the district will assign a numeric grade for credit recovery and that, after averaging, the numerical grade earned through credit recovery may not exceed 70.

Staff also described participation thresholds and a minimum cutoff. As Dr. Carr said in committee discussion: “there is a cutoff criteria of who will need to take the whole course back over again based on their score and who can participate in credit recovery. So not everybody that fails a class could automatically be part of credit recovery. They have to have a certain score. So if they have anything lower than a 40, they'll actually have to retake the entire course.”

Additional context
- Policy 3400 was presented with clarified language about grading for kindergarten through second grade and updates for third through 12th grades; policy 3420 (credit recovery) was described as revised to reflect the State Board changes.
- The district’s grading floor (minimum assignable grade) remains 50 percent by existing district policy; administrators confirmed that the 50 percent floor continues to apply when reporting final grades.
- Staff said the administration and high school principals met to develop criteria for which students qualify for credit recovery and how numeric grades will be calculated; the committee packet included those principal-level conversations for review.

Process and next steps
- The committee voted to forward the spring policy packet, including the grading and credit-recovery revisions, to the full board. Administrators said they will communicate details and implementation guidance to principals and include operational criteria in the packet sent to the board.

Speakers quoted or cited in this article are those who spoke during the committee discussion; direct quotes come from meeting remarks.","Committee members reviewed proposed updates to grading and credit-recovery rules that change credit recovery from a pass/fail approach for core courses to a numeric averaging model and cap recovery averages at 70.",{"_33":89,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":90,"_41":91,"_43":92,"_45":93,"_47":94,"_49":95,"_51":96,"_53":97,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":98,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":99,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6148220,"Policy committee keeps remote participation policy in place, clarifies limits and roll-call voting during emergencies",501,783000,1284000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5517087-53e12fa6db3aee62b06be9c2ed79d533&start=783&end=1284","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5517087-53e12fa6db3aee62b06be9c2ed79d533/thumbnail_783000.jpg","/articles/6148220/North-Carolina/Policy-committee-keeps-remote-participation-policy-in-place-clarifies-limits-and-roll-call-voting-during-emergencies","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6148220-9576e4e2ff265da2715b79ada4de70a0/orig.mp4?Expires=1770684966&Signature=NB-jpjwEkw9Y6a3kfQYckG1FWvJi5akeq1vFMTN6nKmijsyes71VwNVWiOs6XQoqncqujYBQcQUP6CIqIFXyPtmzshDi-ZD0ysAe-hCmHgvkxCQjzgPIiZX3fM0dte1GBEcliAuToCmsmjZGeFajeTlJSrzk~9YCnrHWkh5jkI6LB~m87UWTzGuYF6US7KGNyLxdAHg1HMDNjY6rUgtXv3qplNaH67SnH5cigpw5oYJAfmPfsEGEBHTi56Cy~98k6gbips1MqvQP0iLmw8zPQHKmUYZQ3qkFYh65YANjfXluYm7YuhaSp6HfnVJuRToC4d~MnYqSdtENAJFl0DUP7Q__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Robertson County Public Schools policy committee voted to forward the spring policy packet to the full board while retaining the district’s existing remote-participation rule, Policy 23.02.

During committee discussion, district staff explained why the administration recommended keeping the existing remote policy. “There are 2 ways that a board member can participate remotely. One is through a … state of emergency. The other is for health reasons,” staff member Bobby Locklear said, describing conditions already written into Policy 23.02.

Key points discussed
- Scope of remote participation: Committee members were told that under the district policy, a member may participate remotely either when a state or locally declared emergency applies (allowing a fully virtual meeting) or for individual reasons such as physical illness, disability, quarantine/isolation, public health issues, out-of-town travel, lack of childcare, family illness, family emergency, military service, or employment obligations.
- Limits on routine remote attendance: The committee reviewed a limitation in the policy that says a board member “shall not participate remotely more than three times during a calendar year for a reason other than an order of quarantine, isolation, stay-at-home mandate, or recommendation to limit public interaction.” The committee discussed that the board can waive the limitation by a two-thirds vote.
- Voting methods: Staff said voting methods must change for remote meetings that are convened under a state-declared emergency: votes taken during a remote meeting held under a state-declared emergency must be by roll call.

Committee action and next steps
- The committee voted to move the spring policy packet to the full board for review with the administration’s recommendation to leave Policy 23.02 as written; the motion to forward the packet passed by voice vote.
- Staff recommended the full board consider the packet with the retained remote-participation language and the clarified voting method requirement.

Discussion notes
- Committee members asked for clarification about when a meeting can be fully virtual and when an individual member may participate remotely; administrators distinguished between those two situations during the discussion.
- Committee members also asked whether the three‑time limit applied to regular subcommittee meetings; staff clarified the limitation applies to regular board meetings.

Speakers quoted or cited in this article are those who spoke during the committee discussion; quotes are drawn from the meeting record.","The policy committee voted to forward spring policy updates to the full board while keeping the district’s existing remote participation policy (Policy 23.02) in place.",{"_33":101,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":102,"_41":103,"_43":104,"_45":105,"_47":106,"_49":107,"_51":108,"_53":109,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":110,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":111,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6148224,"Policy committee to revert most Title IX–related rules, update reporting requirements",369,449000,818000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5517087-53e12fa6db3aee62b06be9c2ed79d533&start=449&end=818","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5517087-53e12fa6db3aee62b06be9c2ed79d533/thumbnail_449000.jpg","/articles/6148224/North-Carolina/Policy-committee-to-revert-most-Title-IXrelated-rules-update-reporting-requirements","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6148224-bcb68370fdad7fa038ceed8afb7e7529/orig.mp4?Expires=1770684966&Signature=k5viaJHvvzN40e1EyCuFU9fgRNPe-FxSI1c9mjFhDmRwscfnVAWGOWof267tlIhpU9Lf8BTrF4oeUAwNq4VgZVl1UBmIr~Yd6-RRRw56C-zahR5gSjkcHrzuAYZB5PlZEPtavFDTREnUz6tTr2EbDtNHqykQpNM-qGM5ptauaOwWlpaEEZ7KRRL2QOx~qeVk3OyZidyn3X0RhP~u5JH4BFL5zoDXCEZ2bBnoPc7RQ6Xbdm8GsUe9et6xbYa~7jd~4S4s3kWujg9nLTORSL2KBbVavJzfE-KBgSGZj6nQhdyjosFfh4McfDR8~YbHPJhqDZ69NfmT7sA2zLQRKfwK8w__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Robertson County Public Schools policy committee members heard a presentation from district staff that most Title IX–related policies will be reverted to earlier language and submitted to the full board for review.

Administration staff member Bobby Locklear told the committee the changes “will be updated or making reference to Title IX policies or procedures as required by the federal government,” and that the district is returning most language to the versions used “about 2 years ago.” He said the proposed revisions are largely reverts: “Although you're gonna see a lot of red in these policies, all of these policies are just simply reverting back to where we were at 2 years ago.”

Why it matters: The committee was reviewing a large packet of spring policy updates. Staff said the changes affect multiple policy sections and how the district posts and handles grievance and reporting processes, which will affect parents, students and employees across the district.

What staff described
- Policies listed in the packet that will be revised to reference Title IX include (as cited in the packet) 1510 (school safety references and cross-references to Title IX policies), 1710 (discrimination and harassment), 1720/1725/1726 (Title IX grievance and related procedures), and 1735 (bullying and harassment). Locklear said policy 1725 will be rescinded and replaced with a complete rewrite.
- Staff said certain coordinator assignments must be updated in policy text: the district’s Section 504 coordinator named in the packet was Dr. Sherry Herndon and the ADA coordinator is Dr. Carr; Locklear said “we will need to update this policy 17 10 on page 9 to include our new section 5 0 4 coordinator which is Doctor Sherry Herndon. The other folks will remain the same. Doctor Carr is our ADA coordinator.”
- Locklear said Title IX contact and investigator duties are noted in the packet; he identified Dr. Carr as “our Title 9 contact and investigator for the district.”
- The packet also includes revisions that staff said change how employee misconduct is handled. According to presentation materials cited in the meeting, reporting requirements were tightened for staff misconduct, child abuse and threats to safety; termination and a report to the State Board of Education are described as required outcomes (rather than resignation as an option) when certain violations are substantiated. Locklear summarized: “Historically, in the past, you could accept a resignation for some of these behaviors. That is no longer the case. If there's a violation of these policies, that is not an option. That is a termination and a report to the State Board of Education so that they can revoke the license.”

Process and next steps
- Locklear said the district will post revised Title IX policy language in school buildings and on the district website once the policies are approved by the board.
- The policy committee voted to forward the spring updates to the full board with the administration’s recommendation; the committee’s motion to move the packet to the board passed by voice vote. Committee members also said they would present the same recommendation at the full board meeting to approve the spring updates except for policy 23.02, which the administration recommended leaving unchanged.

Discussion notes and concerns
- Committee members and administrators discussed that the proposed changes largely revert to previous language that the district had used; Locklear repeatedly framed the packet as restoring earlier policy language after federal administrative changes prompted a rewrite in the intervening period.
- Several committee members stressed consistency and careful implementation for Title IX and EC (exceptional children) issues, which they said can create “headaches” if not handled uniformly.

Speakers quoted or cited in this article are those who spoke during the committee presentation or discussion; quotes come from the meeting transcript.","District staff told the policy committee that most Title IX–related policies in the spring packet will be returned to their versions from about two years ago to align with recent federal administrative changes.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Committee sends draft cellphone policy to board with three revisions; principals to define local implementation

Committee advances grading and credit-recovery changes: numeric credit-recovery grades, averaging rule, cap at 70

Policy committee keeps remote participation policy in place, clarifies limits and roll-call voting during emergencies

Policy committee to revert most Title IX–related rules, update reporting requirements