RALEIGH — The House Oversight Committee is calling Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Superintendent Rodney Trice back to testify on April 23 to explain why certain books are in the district’s elementary libraries in violation of the Parents’ Bill of Rights law.
Rep. Brenden Jones (R-Columbus) posted the letter to Trice on social media.
“Due to their continued defiance of the Parents’ Bill of Rights, we have called back Superintendent Rodney Trice to explain why there are 155 books currently in their elementary libraries in direct violation of state law,” wrote Jones.
Jones’ call to bring Trice back follows a previous post on March 25, with images of books in CHCCS depicting “BDSM men kissing and drag-shows.”
“My team is actively reviewing their entire library system,” Jones wrote.
The letter is signed by all three House Oversight co-chairs, which includes Jones and Reps. Jake Johnson (R-Polk) and Harry Warren (R-Rowan).
“As the Superintendent of Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools (‘CHCCS’), you are uniquely qualified to discuss books currently on the shelves and otherwise available in CHCCS elementary school libraries,” the lawmakers wrote. “As your own Digital Learning & Library Services Department states, ‘[t]he objective of the library media center is to make available to faculty and students a collection of materials that will enrich and support the curriculum and meet the needs of the students and faculty served.’”
The letter reminds Trice of a portion of the Parents’ Bill of Rights law that states “curriculum includes the standard course of study and support materials, locally developed curriculum, supplemental instruction, and textbooks and other supplementary materials,” before telling Trice, “We implore you to familiarize yourself with the attached list of one hundred and fifty-five (155) books currently embedded across your elementary schools, in direct conflict with the Parents’ Bill of Rights (“S49”).”
The section of the Parents’ Bill of Rights Law referenced in the letter outlines “age-appropriate instruction for grades kindergarten through fourth grade” and states, “Instruction on gender identity, sexual activity, or sexuality shall not be included in the curriculum provided in grades kindergarten through fourth grade, regardless of whether the information is provided by school personnel or third parties.”
Curriculum is defined in the law as the state’s “standard course of study and support materials, locally developed curriculum, supplemental instruction, and textbooks and other supplementary materials, but does not include responses to student-initiated questions.”
Trice and CHCCS Board Chair George Griffin were grilled by House Oversight Committee members in December 2025 over the district’s failure to follow the state’s Parents’ Bill of Rights law. Griffin had made statements during public meetings held by the board in opposition to following the law, including stating, “We’re not going to do it this way.”
