RALEIGH — Lawmakers on the N.C. House Oversight Committee sent a letter to Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education Chair George Griffin and Superintendent Rodney Trice requesting he testify about allegations that the district failed to follow the state’s Parents’ Bill of Rights law.
The Oct. 30 letter sent to Griffin and Trice are nearly identical and were signed by committee Co-chair Reps. Brenden Jones (R-Columbus), Jake Johnson (R-Polk) and Harry Warren (R-Rowan).
“This body is deeply troubled to learn that Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools (CHCCS) has intentionally breached the North Carolina Constitution and state laws to indoctrinate children as young as six years old with inappropriate materials involving sex and gender,” the lawmakers wrote.
The letter references a Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board meeting held on Jan. 18, 2024, where the board voted in “blatant violation of state law” to ignore two provisions of the Parents’ Bill of Rights: Gender identity and sexuality in K-4, and “The right of parents to be notified before a school changes their child’s name or pronouns in school records or begins using a new name or pronouns for the child.”
A draft policy discussed during the January 2024 meeting shows removal of those two items. Video of the meeting shows Griffin opposing following the law and stating it’s “just morally wrong, and we’re not going to do it this way.”
North State Journal first reported on CHCCS’s refusal to follow certain portions of the law in January 2024. The district had a webpage dedicated to the Parents’ Bill of Rights, but the page leaves out the issues of gender identity and pronouns raised in the letter to Griffin.
The letter from the trio of lawmakers goes on to raise questions about CHCCS violating federal law regarding diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI.
“Furthermore, our investigation into CHCCS has raised another area of concern, namely that CHCCS is championing divisive ideas about race under the pretense of “diversity, equity, and inclusion,” the letter states. “This divisive indoctrination is not only morally wrong, but may violate federal civil rights laws, including, without limitation, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.”
The letter request Griffin and Trice to provide the committee with documents, presentations, actions by the district or board staff, and any other materials related to employment practices that may treat individuals differently or “Treats an individual differently solely to advantage or disadvantage that individual as compared to other individuals or groups.”
The document and materials production deadline set by the letter is “no later than noon” on Nov. 14.
The letter further directs the two CHCCS officials to appear before the committee at 9 a.m. on Dec. 3.
