North Carolina School Districts Wrestle With Parents’ Bill of Rights

Law enforcement stand guard outside of the state Capitol building in downtown Raleigh, N.C., on Jan. 17, 2021. Logan Cyrus/AFP via Getty Images

After a months-long delay, one North Carolina school board has acquiesced to state law requiring the adoption of a parental rights policy, while another refuses to abide by the law.

“At its core, we know that SB 49—or the so-called Parents’ Bill of Rights—seeks to harm our queer youth and families,” said Asheville City Schools Board Chair George Sieburg at a Feb. 12 school board meeting. “As misguided and obtuse as this legislation is, it is written in such a crafty way that as a school board, our hands have been tied.”

SB 49, or the Parents’ Bill of Rights, was among the state bills mischaracterized in some media as “Don’t Say Gay” laws, named so because opponents of the legislation believe the bills target gay and transgender people.

In reality, the legislation, as the name indicates, gives more rights to parents to see what materials are being used in the classroom as well as notifying the parents of any medical or mental health treatments recommended for the child.

In addition, it requires that parents be notified of any name or pronoun changes related to their child while prohibiting instruction on gender identity, sexual activity, or the teaching of sexuality in kindergarten through fourth-grade classrooms.

The GOP-controlled state General Assembly was able to override Democrat Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto to get the legislation passed in August.

“State bill 49 is a law,” Mr. Sieburg said. “Whatever policies and practices we as a board and we as a district choose to enact, they do nothing to change the humble effects of this law; therefore, refusing to pass the policies as a matter of moral principle would neither negate the law or protect our kids in our view.”

‘Pernicious Mandates’

Mr. Sieburg then thanked the Asheville-based Campaign for Southern Equality for the lawsuit the organization filed against the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (DPI), alleging that North Carolina schools are violating Title IX protections by “systematically marginalizing lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) students.”

The organization said it has already heard from students and staff who claim the “pernicious mandates” are causing harm to students in the form of “culls of curriculum and libraries; students forced back into the closet; students walled off from supportive services and outlets beneficial to their mental health; and a pall of fear cast over the whole of the state’s public education system.”

“Personally, I hope that complaint gets its fair day in court,” Mr. Sieburg said.

In response to the allegations in the lawsuit, DPI Superintendent Catherine Truitt said the purpose of the legislation is “plain and simple,” which is to provide transparency for parents.

“Parents, not the state, are ultimately responsible for raising their children,” Ms. Truitt said. “The Parents Bill of Rights ensures that parents remain aware of major health-related matters impacting their child’s growth and development.”

For the time being, Mr. Sieburg said the board would be making adjustments to the policy within the parameters of what is allowed.

“And for this board that means combing through and revising policy language to make sure that our staff and students know their well-being is foremost,” he said.

He added that the board will be discussing a reform policy in March that will focus on “students impacted by this legislation.”

“I want to assure everyone that this law and the policies around it do little to alter how our staff works with and supports our students, particularly our trans and queer youth,“ he said. ”Before this bill, our staff listened to, loved, and worked with our youth who are exploring who they are and how they need to be in this world. ... Our staff will continue to listen to, love, and work with our youth.”

Chapel Hill-Carrboro Refuses to Accept Law

The Chapel Hill-Carrboro school board has defied state law by refusing to enact certain aspects of the parental rights law.

Board Chair George Griffin acknowledged that the protest could bring about legal problems but that someone needed to “stand up for what is right.”

“Just because something’s a law doesn’t make it right,” he said at a Jan. 18 board meeting, calling the bill discriminatory.

“My sense is that we do need to stand up and show people that somebody has the courage to just say this is morally wrong, and we’re not going to do it this way,” Mr. Griffin said.

Ms. Truitt responded to the board’s protest on social media.

“No. Sorry. You may not break the laws you don’t like—even in Chapel Hill,” she said on X. “I worked with the legislature to pass the Parents Bill of Rights to protect children and empower parents and it’s unacceptable for Chapel Hill or anyone else to ignore it.”

North Carolina Republican state Sen. Jim Perry criticized the board’s failure to adopt the legislation, calling the move “shortsighted.”

“Are teachers or principals free to pick and choose which school board policies they follow?” he asked.

Laws, he said, are the building blocks of civilization.

“Law is the foundation that provides order and allows us to coexist together as a society,” he said. “Disregard for laws leads to anarchy.”