Proposed bill would cut school funds over Parents’ Bill of Rights violations

North Carolina public schools that violate the state’s parental rights law could lose administrative funding under a new bill proposal. This follows legislative oversight hearings this week, where lawmakers said Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools remain in violation of the Parents’ Bill of Rights.

The proposed Curriculum Honesty, Compliance, and Child Safety (CHCCS) Act, sponsored by House Majority Leader Brenden Jones, states that if a district remains out of compliance, the state will withhold funding tied to central office administration.

The proposal comes during a months-long dispute with Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools that began with a heated December oversight hearing and continued this week with renewed questioning over library materials and compliance with state law.

Jones said the bill is a response to what lawmakers see as repeated refusal by district leaders to follow state law.

“We have given CHCCS countless opportunities to comply with state law, and time after time they have chosen to spit in the face of the General Assembly,” Jones said. “The CHCCS Act is about holding accountable the people at the top — including central office leadership and the superintendent — who make these decisions and openly violate state law. These are the same decision-makers putting our children at risk. I look forward to passing the CHCCS Act and restoring sanity in our schools.”

At the December hearing, members of the House Select Committee on Oversight and Reform confronted district leaders over alleged violations of the state’s Parents’ Bill of Rights, including claims that school officials were attempting to circumvent portions of the law. Lawmakers focused in particular on provisions restricting instruction on gender identity and sexuality in early grades. District leaders disputed those claims.

Jones warned at the time that lawmakers would use “every tool” available to enforce compliance, signaling potential legislative consequences. The newly drafted CHCCS Act translates those warnings into policy.

Under the proposal, the state auditor would be empowered to investigate school systems and determine whether they are complying with the law. If a district is found noncompliant and fails to correct the issue within a set period, the state could begin withholding funds tied to central office administration, rather than classroom instruction.

However, the penalties would not be permanent. If a district later demonstrates it has come into compliance, any withheld funds would be released and penalties forgiven.

Beyond enforcement, the legislation would expand parental rights and impose additional requirements on public schools statewide, including:

• Require parental consent before schools change a student’s name or gender designation
• Mandate advance notification for issues involving student health, counseling, or gender identity
• Prohibit instruction on gender identity and sexuality in grades K–4
• Allow parents to sue schools, with potential damages of $5,000 per violation

Ahead of Thursday’s hearing, Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Superintendent Rodney Trice submitted written testimony to the committee disputing lawmakers’ claims that they are not in compliance with the Parents’ Bill of Rights. In the response, Trice argued that the books cited by lawmakers are not part of classroom instruction but are simply available in school libraries.

“The common thread among these books is that they depict or mention people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender,” Trice wrote. “The letter suggests that by merely being on a shelf in a school library, these books are ‘in direct conflict with the Parents’ Bill of Rights. The books identified by this Committee are not part of our elementary school curriculum, nor are they used to provide ‘instruction on gender identity, sexual activity, or sexuality’ to students.” 

“Proposed bill would cut school funds over Parents’ Bill of Rights violations” was originally published on www.carolinajournal.com.