PITT COUNTY, N.C. – Pitt County Board of Education members sat calmly Monday night as they waited for parents to speak their minds about a new controversial law.
Session Law 2023-106, also known as the Parents’ Bill of Rights, is being implemented in school districts across the state.
The law gives parents a legal say in what their children are and aren’t exposed to in the classroom.
“We have confidence in our board, and I think our public has confidence in the board, that we will do the right thing,” said Don Rhodes, chairman of the Pitt County Board of Education.
The access parents will be given when it comes to their children’s learning materials and curriculum is one of the many things Rhodes says has been put in place for them.
“We’re already doing most of the things in the Parents’ Bill of Rights,” Rhodes said. “I think we’ve just had to make sure of a few things.”
Rhodes says the state’s new pronoun requirements have been the biggest hurdle. For example, the school board needs a parent’s “OK” if a student wants to go by a different name or pronoun.
“My daughter’s name is Eleanore and we call her Ellie, but unfortunately we’d have to get permission to call her that in our school system,” Rhodes said. “It’s an issue that we had to make the public aware of.”
All in all, the Pitt County School Board wants to make sure they’re in compliance because they say every child on the Coastal Plain matters.
For those still looking for more information on the Parents’ Bill of Rights, the Pitt County School System has a link on its website that details the legislation.
The school board has until January to update its policies and says it’ll vote on the new requirements at its December meeting.