New school year, new laws: A look at what’s now law this academic year in North Carolina

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — Students across the state are back in the classroom for the first day of the traditional school year on Monday and there are new laws directly impacting their schools.

One of those laws impacts students before they even step foot in the classroom.

Starting in October, Senate Bill 391 lets counties install cameras in school zones

to catch people speeding.

On Raleigh’s Six Forks Road, a notoriously busy school zone, Lt. David Davis with the Raleigh Police Department said they have officers posted up every day and still see people speeding often. He’s hopeful cameras will help.

“Typically there’s going to be a lot of crosswalks through here,” Davis said of school zones. “That’s why we want you to slow down as much as possible, so you have an opportunity to slow down if somebody is in a crosswalk.

“Across the country, law enforcement is having that struggle with retention and making sure our staffing numbers are up,” he said. “If we had cameras out at some of these spots and those warning signs were up everywhere, I’m sure that would help us.”

Gov. Josh Stein is taking steps to help students learn inside of the classroom too. He signed a law that requires students to have cellphones turned off during instructional time.

“Cellphones are a major source of distraction for students and disruption for our educators,” Stein said.

Stein vetoed a bill that allows staff inside of private schools to be armed, but the Republican-led General Assembly overrode the veto, also making it a law.

Inside and out of the classroom. Davis said it’s everyone’s responsibility to keep students safe.

“[Students] are the future,” he said. “It is so important to protect our future, our leaders of our city, our state, our country.”