A North Carolina school district faced pressure from Republican lawmakers on Wednesday at a heated oversight hearing, where legislators threw LGBTQ children's books and accused school officials of openly violating parts of a new parental rights law that requires parents be notified about gender identity changes and LGBTQ-themed curriculum for young children.
Officials with Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools appeared before the North Carolina House Select Committee on Oversight and Reform to testify about their compliance with the Parents’ Bill of Rights, Senate Bill 49.
SB 49, passed in August 2023, bars instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity from kindergarten through fourth grade in public schools, requires schools to notify parents about health services, well-being changes and any requested changes to a child’s name or pronouns, and gives parents the right to review materials and opt in or out of sex-related instruction.
In written testimony submitted ahead of the hearing, School Board Chair George Griffin and Superintendent Rodney Trice said the district "has always been, and continues to be, in compliance with the law." However, lawmakers pressed school officials on past comments from Griffin in January 2024 calling the bill "discriminatory" and suggesting the board did not need to follow it entirely, according to WRAL.
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