Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools leaders appeared in Raleigh on Wednesday to testify whether the district is following the Parents’ Bill of Rights law regarding parental involvement in any students’ pronoun changes and discussions around gender identity.
Superintendent Rodney Trice and former CHCCS Board of Education Chair George Griffin answered questions from the North Carolina House Committee on Oversight and Reform, where Republican committee leaders accosted the men for supposedly promoting a “woke” education and openly skirting the 2023 law championed by the legislature’s conservative majority.
The focus of Wednesday’s meeting largely revolved around the CHCCS Board of Education’s meetings in January 2024, which involved policy discussions about updates to include the Parents’ Bill of Rights and its requirements around student data and parental involvement. Board members, like Griffin, made comments about intentionally not complying with the law because of its inclusions of anti-LGBTQ language and clash with the school district’s values of providing a welcoming learning atmosphere. While the board ultimately adopted most of the necessary policy language, the CHCCS elected officials asked for district staff to craft guidance for how to navigate alerting and asking parents about a student’s preferred pronoun use.
At the time, the board cited that method as a way to have more flexibility around a complex topic. But that meeting, and discussions about compliance with SB 49, recently went viral in conservative online circles, leading Rep. Brendan Jones to call the meeting. He accused CHCCS of “protecting an agenda” and “ideological campaign,” pointing to a handful of parent complaints and playing video of Griffin’s comments to back up his reasoning for requiring the district to testify.
“You published a weak staff guidance [or] memo instead of a formal board policy so you could dodge accountability,” Jones said in his opening comments. “This wasn’t passive resistance. It was a coordinated middle finger to this legislature and every parent in your district.”
Rep. Brenden Jones (R – Columbus) asks a question of CHCCS Superintendent Rodney Trice and former School Board Chair George Griffin during Wednesday’s House Oversight Committee hearing. (Photo via the North Carolina General Assembly.)
Trice maintained that since September 2023, the district outlined both policy and guidance concerning SB 49 that is in compliance and “never once” suggested for educators to not follow the law or not involve parents in their children’s education. The district provided materials ahead of time that outlined its adopted revisions to seven different policies as a result of the Parents’ Bill of Rights, which later included language about avoiding instruction about “gender identity, sexual activity, and sexuality” to K-4 students — something the district maintains it never did.
When pressed on Wednesday, Griffin attempted to apologize for any “misunderstanding” his comments created around whether the district was ultimately compliant with the legislature’s law — but said he still believes the law is “discriminatory” to LGBTQ+ students. Rep. Mike Schietzelt (R – Wake) pushed Griffin multiple times during the hearing to say whether he believed SB 49 is unconstitutional and, therefore, he could go against the oath of office he took to join the school board. When Griffin continued to repeat his belief the district is in compliance with the law, Schietzelt rebuked it — referencing a “mountain of evidence” suggesting otherwise.
“Right now, I don’t think that’s good enough,” he said to Griffin. “I think we have a crisis on our hands, because we have a school district that’s openly defying and flouting the law.”
Rep. Amos Quick III and other Democrats on the committee pushed back at the notion of CHCCS circumventing the law, with Quick also apologizing for how Trice and Griffin were addressed during the hearing. The Guilford County representative and former school board member voiced his support for teaching about racial inequities and topics targeted by recent Republican legislation, while asking the CHCCS leaders to further clarify their positions.
“In the course of deliberation, you made a comment,” Quick said to Griffin, referencing the January 2024 meeting. “The comment you made was overruled by the vote. Since then, will you please state for the millionth time, what have you done about the law?”
“The board voted unanimously to follow the law that night, after our discussion,” Griffin responded. “We’ve been in compliance since that night and we’re in compliance today – not only with the law, but in involving parents, like we always have.”
Other parts of Wednesday’s 100-minute committee meeting were focused more on whether CHCCS is “indoctrinating” or “grooming” children — language Republican lawmakers have used as part of a broader culture war in recent years against the LGBTQ+ community. One instance included Rep. Jones holding up books he said the district “approved” that had contents he deemed inappropriate for children. He read off a list of their names and some of their subjects before throwing them down behind the dais, calling them “trash” and asking the district leaders whether they find the materials appropriate. Trice responded by saying CHCCS linked to a third-party group who recommended those books to caretakers to have conversations about gender identity and sexual orientation with their children, not claiming it was part of the districts’ curriculum. The superintendent said the links have a multi-disciplinary review and it would be linked as a “good resource.” The link has since been removed from the district’s website, a move which Jones deemed as reactionary to the committee’s email to call the district to testify.
Rep. Allison Dahle (D – Wake), who is openly queer, called the proceedings on Wednesday that of a “kangaroo court” and said she even supported CHCCS “skirting” full adherence to SB 49 because of its targeting of the LGBTQ community.
“This is an attack on gay, trans people,” said Dahle, who voted against the bill in 2023. “This is a way for everybody to be afraid of something that is 1% of this population. These [LGBTQ] people and the school system [are] between a rock and a hard place. You’ve got kids who are on one end of the [ideological] spectrum to the other, and you have to do everything you can to help each and every person learn.”
CHCCS Board of Education Member George Griffin answers a question while Superintendent Rodney Trice listens on Wednesday, Dec. 10 in Raleigh. (Photo via the North Carolina General Assembly.)
Some of the state lawmakers accused the district leaders for being obtuse or using “flimsy language” in their responses — which is part of what led to the CHCCS Board of Education’s discussions in 2023 and 2024 about adopting policies to align with the Parents’ Bill of Rights. The lack of definitions in the law establishing what constitutes as “age-appropriate instruction,” “curriculum,” or other related materials led both board members and CHCCS staff expressing confusion at the time of SB 49’s approval. The definitions included largely define the roles of parents, children, instructors and school leaders.
The law also lacks an outline of how to enforce non-compliance. While it states that state employees could face “disciplinary action” for encouraging or aiding a student withholding information from their parents, the measure does not lay out any kind of enforcement plan for the State Board of Education or penalties for any school or district-wide issues. A Republican-sponsored bill advanced from the House this spring that would have allowed parents to seek up to $5,000 in damages from schools for violating the Parents’ Bill of Rights, but the measure stalled out in committee.
On Wednesday, Republican committee members warned Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools they would seek to remedy that and make an example out of the district. Rep. Jeffrey McNeeley (R – Iredell) questioned Griffin and Trice about the district’s fund balance — which is depleted after CHCCS used its fund balance to provide pay raises to teachers, raises to bus drivers and other retention efforts in the aftermath of COVID-19 — and threatened to withhold state dollars as a punishment.
“I don’t know how you’re going to educate your kids without any money…maybe y’all are going to do volunteer work over there,” McNeeley said. “But I will tell you this: because of y’all, there’s going to be legislation that comes and it’s going to be pretty tough. Because we’re not going to put up with rogue school systems who have no money and will not comply with the laws of this state.”
Rep. Jones echoed this, saying Republican lawmakers would seek ways to further strengthen the Parents’ Bill of Rights and enforcement of it. He also warned other school districts against seeing CHCCS as an example to follow.
“Let me be [really] clear: this General Assembly will use every tool, every statute, and every ounce of our authority to protect children and to force you to comply with the law,” Jones concluded. “If you don’t follow it willingly, we will hold you to the fire with every legal and legislative mechanism in our power.”
“Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools is committed to parental involvement in everything we do,” CHCCS Chief Communications Officer Andy Jenks told Chapelboro following Wednesday’s hearing. “We believe it’s essential that staff, families and students work together to achieve the best outcomes in our schools. We appreciated the opportunity to answer questions and clarify any misunderstandings. As our testimony demonstrated, CHCCS is in compliance with the law.”
Rep. Allen Buansi (D – Orange), whose district exclusively covers Chapel Hill and Carrboro, sat in the audience for Wednesday’s committee meeting. Afterward, he said the hearing “wasted the time and patience of the people of North Carolina,” and called for principled leadership to pass a budget that responds to pressing statewide needs.
“North Carolina is now the only state in the country without a state budget,” Buansi wrote. “Yet, the North Carolina House Oversight Committee had the superintendent and a school board member come in to answer questions, only to berate, disrespect and make false claims and accusations against a school system complying with the law and trying its best to fulfill its mission: to educate our children and ensure their opportunity to pursue their dreams.”
Full video of Wednesday’s House Oversight Committee meeting can be watched on WRAL’s website. The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools district’s webpage on the Parents’ Bill of Rights can be found here.
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