NC Senate Bill 49 is Fully in Effect. Are NC School Districts in Compliance?
Orange High School principal sends email saying LGTBQ students may no longer be safe in schools or at home.
As of January 1st, 2024 all components of SB 49, known as the Parents’ Bill of Rights, have taken effect. School districts across NC have been working on updating policies since August in order to be in compliance with the new legislation. The purpose of SB 49 is stated clearly. It grants the parents authority over what is best for their children when they are in school, instead of allowing the school staff to make important choices without a parent’s involvement and notification.
AN ACT TO ENUMERATE THE RIGHTS OF PARENTS TO DIRECT THE UPBRINGING, EDUCATION, HEALTH CARE, AND MENTAL HEALTH OF THEIR MINOR CHILDREN.
However there has been push back from several school districts on certain aspects of this legislation. Some Orange County School Board members, students and parents have voiced that SB 49 will be harmful and dangerous to LGTBQ students and families. School board members, Sarah Smiley and Carrie Doyle, have called SB 49 terrible, ridiculous, harmful and stupid in public board meetings. The sections of SB 49 on age-appropriate curriculum, parental notification for name and/or pronoun changes made by students and parental consent for student surveys are of main concern.
§ 115C-76.55. Age-appropriate instruction for grades kindergarten through fourth grade.
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. For the purposes of this section, curriculum includes the 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.
§ 115C-76.45. Notifications of student physical and mental health.
The governing body of a public school unit shall adopt procedures to notify a parent of the following: Prior to any changes in the name or pronoun used for a student in school records or by school personnel, notice to the parent of the change.
§ 115C-76.25. Parent legal rights for their child's education
The right for students to participate in protected student information surveys only with parental consent.
Orange County Schools has updated their current policies to what they believe aligns with SB 49, however they have cleverly crafted a few policies to circumvent the law. Policy 3540 Comprehensive Health Education Program and Regulation: 1710/4021/7230-R Gender Support Guidelines have updates that create loopholes to sections of SB 49.
Jason Johnson, the principal at Orange High School (OHS), sent an email out to the community over winter break. In it he makes it clear he is not in support of SB 49. The email was crafted to incite fear to the LGTBQ community, leading them to believe students can no longer safely identify as LGTBQ. According to his email, Johnson believes that LGTBQ students are potentially in danger, will suffer poor mental health and will not be safe in schools or at home with their parents due to SB 49. He did not provide any details or examples on how LGTBQ students will be put in danger by SB 49 or how they are no longer going to be safe in schools or at home anymore, because it is all just potential harm. There was only a sweeping statement that a student’s safety could be in danger if parents are not welcoming to their child’s identity. Johnson has deemed himself the expert on when to step in between a family and decide what it means when a parent is being “unwelcoming” to what their child is doing.
Orange County Schools has a policy prohibiting discrimination on the basis of gender, gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation. With a policy already in place that prohibits harassment, intimidation and bullying to LGTBQ students, why is Principal Johnson leading students to believe SB 49 is going to end that protection? Johnson fails to put LGTBQ students at ease by sharing that SB 49 does not regulate how a student can or can not identify in school. SB 49 does not state that LGTBQ students will be reported to their parents because of their sexual orientation or that LGTBQ orientation is no longer permitted. SB 49 does not prohibit clubs, activities and safe spaces for LGTBQ students. What SB 49 does regulate, that may concern a LGTBQ student, is the requirement of parental notification before changes to a student’s name or pronouns are made to school records or by school personnel. To keep students safe from SB 49, Johnson plans to amplify the right for students to identify publicly as they see fit, however a student’s parents must still be notified if a child requests a change in name and/or pronouns to school record or by school personnel. Orange High School will continue to provide safe spaces on campus where students can feel like they belong, free from discrimination. However, if a student chooses to use different names and pronouns in the safe spaces, OHS must comply with SB 49 and notify parents.
Additionally in Johnson’s email, he has plans to train staff on how to best support students in compliance with the law, meaning staff will inform students that if they request a name/pronoun change to their student record or to be used by school personnel, by law the school is required to notify parents. In turn, this will cause some students not to request name/pronoun changes to their school record just so their parents will not find out. This is where the deception comes into play and is supported with updated school policy. If school staff is aware that a student wants to use a different name and/or pronouns, they will inform the student that by law parents have to be notified first before changes can be made, but if there is no record of it parents won’t find out. Now a student can decide, with the support of the school, not to make a request for changes in order to prevent their parents from finding out. This leaves solely the school aware of the student’s hardship and parents in the dark. The updated policy goes as far as adding an extra step before parents are notified about the child requesting pronoun changes, “School principals must also consult with a school counselor or with the Director of Student Services before notifying parents of any change in the pronouns used to refer to a student in school records or by school personnel.”
Orange County Schools has already been practicing this deception with students who are transitioning their gender and do not want parents to know. School personnel are told to inform those students not to fill out the gender support plan form, that way there are no documents or record of it if the parent requests their child’s records. This is teaching students how to go around laws they do not support and how to be dishonest with their parents.
Before SB 49 took effect, the Regulation, 1710/4021/7230-R Gender Support Guidelines, was written to allow the school to choose not to involve parents if at all with their child’s gender transition at school and informing a child if they fill out a gender support plan parents have the right to request all records. The now updated policy reaffirms this and adds language that further puts the school in control over whether or not to involve the parents. “It does not require employees to notify parents that their children have presented as transgender, non-binary, or gender non-conforming.” Meaning if a student presents as transgender, non-binary or gender non-conforming and the student requests the school’s help with making a plan to transition at school, the school can decide whether or not to notify or involve parents. Requiring school personnel to inform students that name/pronoun record changes require parental notification is also covered under this policy. Nothing in this policy stops a student from backing out of making requests and parents will never know their child wanted to initiate it to begin with.
The school principal or their designee should speak with the student first to ascertain concerns the student may have, what support may be needed to keep the student safe at school, and how to involve the student’s parents, if at all.
2. As noted above, transgender, non-binary and gender non-conforming youth often experience significant family challenges and may have concerns about their safety or acceptance at home if their parents are informed of their gender identity. G.S. 115C-76.45(a)(4) requires prior notice to parents only of any “change” in the names or pronouns that are “used” for a student in school records or by school personnel. It does not require employees to notify parents that their children have presented as transgender, non-binary, or gender non-conforming. (See “Supporting Transgender or Transitioning Students” above for more information on this topic.) Students who request a change in the name or pronouns used to refer to them in school records or by school personnel will be informed of the parental notification requirement. Students who express concerns about their safety at home should be referred to a school counselor or the Director of Student Services. School principals must also consult with a school counselor or with the Director of Student Services before notifying parents of any change in the pronouns used to refer to a student in school records or by school personnel.
It is clear that the Orange County School Board is circumventing SB 49 which requires schools to involve and notify parents of any physical and mental health changes at school. Clearly transitioning into a different gender is a physical and mental health issue. However, Orange County Schools does not think so, even with their Gender Support Plan form outlining changes in mental, emotional and physical health services in order to support the student with their gender transition. The current Gender Support Guidelines policy and its actions are harmful to LGTBQ children and their families as it allows school staff to use their position of trust to corrode a child’s relationship with their parent, it oppresses a child’s self-respect and destroys the family bond. SB 49 requires parent notification of student physical and mental health:
§ 115C-76.45. Notifications of student physical and mental health.
The governing body of a public school unit shall adopt procedures to notify a parent of the following:
(4) Prior to or contemporaneous with changes, notice of changes in services or monitoring related to his or her child's mental, emotional, or physical health or well-being and the school's ability to provide a safe and supportive learning environment for that child.
Additionally, Orange County Schools can continue to allow K-4th grades to be influenced on gender identity, sexual activity, or sexuality even though SB 49 prohibits instruction to grades K-4 on these topics across all subjects. The school board voted on SB 49 updates to Policy 3540 Comprehensive Health Education (Sex Edu.) yet created a loop hole at the same time. Orange County Schools has also avoided updating policies surrounding curriculum for all other K-4 subjects, by not doing so they are not in compliance with SB 49. What about curriculum for reading, math, history, science and all the rest?
Instruction on gender identity, sexual activity, or sexuality will not be included in the health education program in kindergarten through fourth grade. However, consistent with Standard 2 of the North Carolina Professional Teaching Standards, to help promote compliance with federal and district nondiscrimination policies, and to support a safe, welcoming, and inclusive school environment that is free of bias, this policy does not preclude, limit, or prevent the representation or inclusion of individuals and families of diverse gender identities or sexual orientations (including LGBTQ+ individuals and families) in any curricular resources or classroom materials, provided the resources or materials are not intended or used to provide instruction on gender identity, sexual activity, or sexuality in kindergarten through fourth grade. Nor does this policy prevent employees from responding to student-initiated questions regarding gender identity, sexual activity, or sexuality.
The loophole basically allows this content in K-4 classrooms as long as it is meant for representation and not being explicitly taught. The school board believes that by allowing gender identity, sexuality, and sexual activity in resources and materials in classrooms only as representation for those individuals and families, and as long as these resources and materials are not used for instruction, that students will not be learning from them. Any parent or teacher knows that children are influenced and learn from their environments, not every lesson comes with direct instruction. Children learn and are influenced from the school library books they choose to read, websites they visit and posters on the classroom walls. The current policy has no limits on what is age-appropriate or what sexual orientation or gender identity content can be represented in these non-instructional resources and materials. Stating they need representation to support an inclusive school environment that is free of bias opens the door for any and all sexuality to be represented in K-4 classrooms. With no guidelines, there are no limits. There has already been curriculum this school year in elementary schools that showed nudity when representing the LGTBQ community.
Orange County Schools is knowingly circumventing the law. They have written policy to work around legislation they do not like that will drive a wedge between children and parents, further destroying the family unit. Is it the position of the school to assert its staff to engage with a child about their sexuality and then inform that child to avoid written records so parents do not become aware? Who is going to be there to support this child when they are no longer in Orange County Schools? School board members? Principals? Teachers? Highly unlikely, it’s the parents who will be there. Perhaps Orange County Schools feels there will be zero accountability for school board members, school administration, support staff and teachers that disregard the law. Only time will tell if Orange County Schools will be liable for not being in compliance with SB 49.