1 February 2023
RALEIGH, N.C. (WGHP) – The so-called “Parents Bill of Rights” is back in the North Carolina General Assembly for another shot at rephrasing educational policy in language similar to that passed by the Senate last spring.
This bill – Senate Bill 49 – will be introduced today by one of the Triad’s senators, Amy Galey (R-Alamance), who is its primary sponsor along with Sen. Mike Lee (R-New Hanover) and Sen. Lisa Barnes (R-Franklin), in a press conference at the state legislative building at 10:30 and then read by Galey in the Senate Education Committee immediately afterward.
This bill will add new language and limits to address LBGTQ issues involving students in what has emerged as a national Republican message, but just last June the Senate passed House Bill 755, then called the “Parents Bill of Rights.”
Even though that was an augmented version of a bill introduced into the House, Speaker Tim Moore decided not to take it up during the short session, because, as The News & Observer in Raleigh reported, he was concerned it would be vetoed by Gov. Roy Cooper.
That likely would happen with anything new as well, but the Senate now has a supermajority of Republicans, the House is one vote shy of a supermajority, and Moore recently changed rules that might allow him to call a veto-override vote without notice.
The previous bill
HB 755 was filed in 2021, sponsored in the House by two representatives from the Triad at the time, Rep. Jon Hardister (R-Whitsett) and Rep. Jeffrey Elmore (R-Wilkes). It passed along party-line votes.
Most of the items in that bill are covered by existing state statutes and processes. It’s the issues about personal pronouns and teachers’ responsibilities to communicate with parents about discussions that might emerge and the limitations on curricula in kindergarten through Grade 3 that drew the most attention. The bill has been likened to Florida’s controversial so-called “Don’t Say Gay Bill.”
Senate Democrats filed a bill in response that addressed some of the same points, sponsor Michael Garrett (D-Greensboro) said, and drew from conversations with parents who told them what they want.
Garrett said Tuesday night that he had not read this new bill but promised in a text message to WGHP to comment on its content during the committee meeting.
What’s in the new bill
Senate Bill 49 by Steven Doyle on Scribd
The new bill, which is titled “An Act to Enumerate the Rights of Parents to Direct the Upbringing, Education, Health Care and Mental Health of their Minor Children,” includes bans on curriculum about gender identity, sexual activity and sexuality in Grades K-4, specifies “age-appropriate discussion,” how schools should handle when a student changes a preferred pronoun and requires schools to make textbooks and other materials available for parents to review.
The bill states specifically that parents have the right:
To direct the education and care of his or her child.
To direct the upbringing and moral or religious training of his or her child.
To enroll his or her child in a public or nonpublic school and in any school choice options available to the parent for which the child is otherwise eligible by law in order to comply with compulsory attendance laws, as provided in Part 1 of Article 26 of this Chapter.
To access and review all education records, as authorized by the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act … relating to his 33 or her child.
To make health care decisions for his or her child, unless otherwise provided by law, including Article 1A of Chapter 90 of the General Statutes.
To access and review all medical records of his or her child, as authorized by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 as amended, except as follows: If the parent is the subject of an investigation of (i) a crime committed against the child under Chapter 14 of the General Statutes or (ii) an abuse and neglect complaint under Chapter 7B of the General Statutes and an individual authorized to conduct that investigation requests that the information not be released to the parent. b. When otherwise prohibited by law.
To prohibit the creation, sharing, or storage of a biometric scan of his or her child without the parent’s prior written consent, except as authorized pursuant to a court order or otherwise required by law.
To prohibit the creation, sharing, or storage of his or her child’s blood or deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) without the parent’s prior written consent, except as authorized pursuant to a court order or otherwise required by law.
To prohibit the creation by the State of a video or voice recording of his or her child without the parent’s prior written consent, except a recording made in the following circumstances:During or as part of a court proceeding.As part of an investigation under Chapter 7B or Chapter 14 of the General Statutes.
When the recording will be used solely for any of the following purposes: A safety demonstration, including one related to security and discipline on educational property. 2. An academic or extracurricular activity. 3. Classroom instruction. 4. Photo identification cards. 5. Security or surveillance of buildings or grounds.
To be promptly notified if an employee of the State suspects that a criminal offense has been committed against his or her child, unless the incident has first been reported to law enforcement or the county child welfare agency, and notification of the parent would impede the investigation.