Facing a state deadline, Wake schools pass policy to comply with Parents’ Bill of Rights

The Wake County school system is meeting the state’s deadline for following the new “Parents’ Bill of Rights” law that critics say is “Don’t Say Gay” legislation.

The Wake school board gave final approval Tuesday to an updated parental involvement policy that incorporates several of the new law’s requirements. The policy includes provisions such as requiring parental notification of student name and pronoun changes and barring discussion of LGBTQ topics in some elementary school grades.

The school system has been pressured from competing groups. Some don’t want Wake to implement the law. But other groups want the county to use the law to remove LGBTQ books from elementary school libraries.

The parental involvement policy is heavily based on wording suggested by the N.C. School Boards Association.

Wake has already adopted several other policies to comply with the new state law.

Advocates opposing veto overrides of N.C. bills banning transgender athletes and restrictions on gender-affirming care for minors hold a press conference at the Legislative Building in Raleigh on Aug. 16, 2023.

Schools have a Jan. 1 deadline on the law

In August, Republican lawmakers overrode the veto of Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper to pass the Parents’ Bill of Rights into law.

The law requires public schools to provide parents with information on topics such as nonpublic school options, academic offerings and clubs at schools.

It says parents must be notified before their child uses a different name or pronoun in school. Wake sent schools a memo in November with guidance on how to follow the notification requirement.

Another provision bans instruction on gender identity, sexual activity or sexuality in the curriculum in kindergarten through fourth-grade classrooms. Wake says gender identity, sexual activity or sexuality are not part of the curriculum in K-4 classes.

Schools are required to create a grievance process for parents who feel the new law isn’t being followed. But the State Board of Education, which would decide on grievances, has said it doesn’t have any enforcement powers.

Legislators gave schools an extension until Jan. 1 to implement the law.

Title IX challenge against the law

School boards across the state have been modifying their policies to meet the deadline.

The Asheville-based Campaign for Southern Equality has urged schools not to follow the Parents’ Bill of Rights because the group says it violates federal law by creating a hostile educational environment for LGBTQ+ students.

The Campaign for Southern Equality plans to file a federal Title IX complaint against the new state law. It’s also among three groups that filed a Title IX complaint last week against the Buncombe County school system for adopting policies to comply with the new state law.

In contrast, Julie Page asked the Wake County school board on Tuesday to reject the parental involvement policy because she said it doesn’t do enough to comply with the Parents’ Bill of Rights.

Page, who founded the Wake County chapter of Moms for Liberty, said the policy doesn’t address issues such as keeping “gender ideology materials” away from K-4 students. Wake County isn’t emulating Johnston County in interpreting the Parents’ Bill of Rights to say it must include books in elementary school libraries.