POWHATAN COUNTY, Va. -- The Powhatan County School Board spent several hours Tuesday morning revising their policies on student's rights and responsibilities following months of outcry from some students, parents, and advocates over reported incidents of racial discrimination within Powhatan schools.
The work session was not a final vote, which comes later this month, but showed where school board members plan to make policy changes.
Earlier this year, a widely circulated photo online allegedly showed a Powhatan student with a racial slur written on their arm.
At community and school board meetings that followed, Powhatan families said it was just one of a series of racially motivated incidents that they felt were not being handled promptly.
On Tuesday, the school board discussed a wide variety of topics over several hours but alluded to the public concern multiple times.
They discussed ways within their policy document to ensure existing discrimination rules are enforced with greater consistency and strengthening punishment if/when a student uses harassing racial language at school.
"I don’t care who you are, you use 'x' words you’re going to be in trouble," said Vicki Hurt, the Vice Chair of the Board.
"Clearly, we’ve heard from the community — none of us is in favor of the things that have happened — so I believe it needs to be enforced across the board. We will not tolerate racial slurs; we will not tolerate language of that kind in any manner whatsoever," said Dr. James Taylor, Chair of the Board.
The school board did decide to remove a reference to "hate speech" within the policy document. The Powhatan chapter of the NAACP had called for its inclusion in the student rights and responsibility policy.
Board members said there is no clear definition of "hate speech" in Virginia or federal code and that other portions of the document clearly define punishment escalation if a student uses racially harassing language or slurs.
"We want to be consistent and clear, and what’s hate speech for one might not be hate speech for another, and there’s no clear code definition either," Hurt said.
The school also considered changes to the cell phone policy inside middle and high schools.
Although a total ban was discussed, members landed on rules that allow the use of personal cell phones and connected devices only during the lunch period in high schools.
If students repeatedly violate the policy, a third offense would require the student's parent/guardian to retrieve the device from the school office.
"Parents need to learn to read and follow the rules, and maybe their kids will read and follow the rules," Hurt said.
Again, these policy changes are not yet final. A public hearing and vote on the changes is set for the June 18 Powhatan School Board meeting.
You can view the work session in its entirety here.
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