The chairperson of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education said the board is prepared for any legal consequences after a vote to defy the so-called Parents Bill of Rights.
School board chair George Griffin said board members consulted with their district attorney before voting unanimously last Thursday on a local parent involvement policy that rejects two parts of the recent law, which took effect in January.
Chapel Hill-Carrboro City school board鈥檚 would not require school employees to notify parents if a student changes their name or pronouns, and it would not ban instruction on gender identity before fifth grade.
Griffin said board members believe those two clauses in the state law are discriminatory.
鈥淲e think it does more harm than good, and so our first priority is to protect our students. We'll deal with the possible legal or political ramifications as they come up,鈥� Griffin told 瓜神app. 鈥淲e don't know what that'll look like.鈥�
Republican officials and candidates have criticized the school board鈥檚 vote. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Catherine Truitt called the vote 鈥渦nacceptable鈥� on a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
No. Sorry. You may not break the laws you don鈥檛 like 鈥� even in Chapel Hill. I worked with the legislature to pass the Parents Bill of Rights to protect children and empower parents and it鈥檚 unacceptable for Chapel Hill or anyone else to ignore it.
— Catherine Truitt (@CTruittNC)
鈥淲e went into this clear-eyed, in the sense that we knew there would be some pushback. Anytime you challenge a law or regulation, you can expect that,鈥� Griffin said. 鈥淲e're not interested in getting into a social media war with anybody. We're not trying to pick a fight. We're not looking for trouble. We are looking to protect the best interests of our students.鈥�
Senate Majority Whip Jim Perry said he plans to address 鈥渢his lawless behavior鈥� in the North Carolina General Assembly鈥檚 2024 legislative session.
鈥淭he General Assembly has really unlimited responses available, because we are in the short session, and we would be able to craft whatever law we felt was appropriate,鈥� Perry told 瓜神app.
Perry said he believes a majority of the General Assembly finds the school board鈥檚 actions 鈥渦nacceptable." Perry said he鈥檚 concerned that the school board is disregarding the rule of law.
鈥淚f you don't like a law, there's a process that you go about to change it 鈥� and voting to ignore parts of the law is not part of that process,鈥� Perry said.
When asked whether he would like to see a state agency pursue arrests of school board members, Perry said that response sounded 鈥渁 bit extreme.鈥�
The Parents Bill of Rights does include an enforcement mechanism, by which a parent can file a complaint about a school board鈥檚 policy to receive a parental concern hearing by the State Board of Education. The state board approved a policy outlining parental concern hearings in November.
Griffin said the board鈥檚 attorney instructed board members on a before they took a preliminary vote on their proposed policy.
鈥淲e have a law in North Carolina that says school board members must protect the best interest of all students, and it also says school board members must follow all state laws. That's a bind,鈥� Griffin said.
Griffin added that the board has received overwhelming support from parents, students and staff in Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, via emails either calling for or applauding the vote.
The school board has so far only passed the policy on first reading, so it will be up for another vote in February.
The North Carolina School Boards Association declined a request for comment.
