The North Carolina House of Representatives Oversight Committee pushed Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools leaders over the local district’s inclusion of LGBTQ+ related books in its school libraries and compliance with the state’s “Parents’ Bill of Rights” law on Thursday, with the committee’s co-chair filing legislation at the end to establish new enforcement efforts while further restricting supplemental reading content.
CHCCS Superintendent Rodney Trice and Director of Digital Services and Libraries Al McArthur fielded questions and accusations alike from lawmakers during the 154-minute hearing called over the committee’s review of 63 books is deemed “in direct conflict” with the 2023 law also known as Senate Bill 49. The meeting ended with House Committee co-chair Rep. Brenden Jones introducing legislation which aims to further define and expand the “Parents’ Bill of Rights” by clarifying that library materials count as curriculum and creating an enforcement method that could result in the General Assembly withholding its funding to public school districts.
Jones (R – Columbus) said in his opening and closing statements the law “is not unclear” and the committee’s job is “not to re-interpret the law,” but much of the tension between legislators — many of them Republican lawmakers — and the district leaders stemmed from differing interpretations of compliance. CHCCS maintained its policies and application of S.B. 49 followed what is outlined in the law’s language regarding no curriculum or instruction on gender identity, sexual orientation or sexual activity and parents’ involvement in their children’s learning. Legislators shared their disagreement and questioned the approaches of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro district and pointed to the “legislative intent” of the measure, but often failed to cite specific portions or definitions in the “Parents’ Bill of Rights” that would qualify as a clear violation.
To close the meeting, Jones unveiled the CHCCS Act — short for “the Curriculum, Honesty, Compliance, and Child Safety Act,” but an allusion to the school district’s own abbreviation. With the committee co-chair promising “real, enforceable consequences with real financial penalties,” the proposal would allow the state auditor’s office to conduct reviews of school districts and for the state government to withhold funding or levy administrative fines to those determined to violate S.B. 49. The new bill also clarifies that books in elementary school libraries, like the ones criticized by legislators on Thursday, would then be materials subject to the “Parents’ Bill of Rights” and considered curriculum.
“When a district chooses not to follow the law, it should not expect to continue receiving taxpayer dollars without accountability,” Jones said. “Public funds come with public obligations… and when public obligations are ignored, they should come with consequences — real consequences.”
House District 56 Rep. Allen Buansi (D – Orange), who represents Chapel Hill and Carrboro, shared a statement with Chapelboro following the hearing, saying he believes North Carolinians “need and deserve better” from legislators than holding a hearing over children’s library books.
“It’s extremely shameful that today, in a committee meeting, valuable taxpayer money and resources were spent attacking a public school system and engaging in divisive culture wars, instead of funding public schools for the sake of the children,” Buansi wrote. “Our #1 job as a General Assembly is to pass a state budget that is responsive to the people’s needs. The prices of gas, groceries and housing are skyrocketing with no relief in sight. We need to be focused on the task of securing healthcare for folks, raising salaries for our state employees and cost of living adjustments for our state retired employees and driving down costs for everyday North Carolinians.”
As of 3 p.m., Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools has not responded to Chapelboro’s request for comment on Thursday’s hearing and the resulting proposed bill. Prior coverage of CHCCS’ testimony on compliance with the “Parents’ Bill of Rights” from Dec. 2025 can be read here.
This story will be updated with further information.
Featured photo via the North Carolina General Assembly livestream.
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