Wake County (NC) School Board Moves Forward With Updated Technology and Internet Safety Rules
Facing a 2026 state deadline, the school board approved updated technology and internet safety rules that tighten social media use, expand data privacy protections, and add new training requirements
Raleigh, NC, Dec. 18, 2025 — The Wake County Board of Education on Tuesday advanced two updated policies governing student technology use (document) and internet safety (document), approving both on first reading and waiving a second vote to meet a state compliance deadline.
Board members were told the updates were primarily driven by new state requirements and guidance from the North Carolina School Boards Association, with limited local edits. Although the meeting discussion was brief, the approved policies include several notable changes affecting students, staff, and schools.
More precise Limits on Student Technology and Social Media Use
Under the updated technology policy, expectations around acceptable use are more explicit. Student access to social media is now explicitly prohibited on school-provided technology unless a teacher authorizes its use for an educational purpose.
The policy also clarifies that its rules apply not only to students and teachers, but to anyone authorized to use school system technology, including contractors and other non-employees. Disciplinary consequences are spelled out more clearly, with violations potentially leading to loss of technology access, school disciplinary action for students, or employee dismissal, depending on severity.
Another key shift reframes how students are prepared to use technology. Instead of treating online behavior training as a one-time requirement before internet access, the policy emphasizes ongoing digital literacy instruction, including digital citizenship and responsible online behavior.
References to artificial intelligence were removed from this policy, with staff explaining that the use of artificial intelligence (AI) will be addressed separately to avoid overlapping or conflicting rules.
Stronger Focus on Student Data Privacy and Internet Filtering
Updates to the internet safety policy expand the list of content schools are expected to block or restrict. In addition to filtering out obscene or harmful content, schools are now directed to restrict access to websites and applications that do not adequately protect students’ personal information.
The policy also clarifies which types of content are inappropriate for minors unless there is a legitimate educational purpose, while maintaining protections against restricting access solely based on disagreement with a viewpoint.
New Training and Documentation Expectations for Schools
The internet safety policy also places greater responsibility on schools to document how students are taught to navigate the internet safely. All school personnel share responsibility for supervising and monitoring online activity, and principals are now expected to maintain records showing what internet safety topics were taught, when instruction occurred, and how all students were covered.
Required topics include appropriate online behavior, use of social networking platforms, and awareness and response to cyberbullying.
What Was, and Wasn’t, Discussed
While board members acknowledged the policies could be revisited in the future, most of the specific changes were not discussed in detail during the meeting. The updates were primarily made to meet a state deadline, with the substance of the changes reflected in the policy language rather than in public discussion.
Why It Matters
Together, the updated policies tighten expectations around student technology use, expand accountability for monitoring and supervision, and place greater emphasis on protecting student data and documenting internet safety education.
For families, the changes mean more precise limits on social media use at school and a stronger focus on online safety instruction. For schools and staff, they bring added responsibilities for oversight and record-keeping as the district moves toward full compliance with state requirements.
This is a really thoughtful breakdown of what could've been a dry policy update. The distinction between one-time training and ongoing digital literacy instruction is huge—I remmeber when schools treated internet safety like a checkbox excercise rather than continuous education. The data privacy protections around blocking apps that don't adequetly protect student info feels especially relevant given how many ed-tech companies have been careless with that stuff.
What about rampant cheating using AI? From what I've heard from my high-schooler, it's a HUGE issue at FVHS with certain students bragging left and right about using AI on every test/assignment, allowed or not, in the "crudest" way possible - "here's a photo of assignment, give me the answer"...