State education board says it won’t hear appeals on school book challenges. Here’s why.
The State Board of Education will not hear appeals about local school book challenges under a new draft policy introduced Wednesday to carry out the Parents’ Bill of Rights law.
The new state law creates a process where parents can request a “parental concern hearing” with the state board over a school district or charter school’s implementation of the Parents’ Bill of Rights.
But book challenges, though, are not among the 11 reasons listed under in the draft for requesting a concern hearing. The state board is scheduled to give final approval to the new policy in November.
“We’re already getting requests to appeal books in the library and things like that,” Allison Schafer, the state’s board attorney, said at Wednesday’s meeting. “That’s not in this list. That is something you have a process for at the local level that goes to the local board.”
Banned Books Week 2023
One of the law’s requirements prohibits instruction on gender identity, sexual activity or sexuality in kindergarten through fourth grade. That has led some parents to seek removal of books from schools because they say K-4 children can read material prohibited by the law.
For instance, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools removed “Red: A Crayon’s Story” from elementary schools following parental complaints that the picture book violated the new state law. The story of a red-labeled crayon realizing it’s actually blue has been accused of promoting gender identity.
This year’s “Banned Books Week” runs through Sunday. Numbers released by free speech group PEN America show a 33% spike in attempted book bans in the 2022-2023 school year compared with the one prior, The Hill reported.
Hearing process
Under the Parents’ Bill of Rights, school districts and charter schools have to create a process where parents can raise concerns about implementation of the law. If the concern isn’t resolved in 30 days, parents can request a hearing with the state board or file a lawsuit in court.
If the parent goes to the state board, an attorney with education or administrative law experience would be appointed as the hearing officer. The state board would vote to accept or reject the hearing officer’s findings..
Schafer said state lawmakers didn’t include an enforcement provision if the state board finds that a district violated the law.
The N.C. School Boards Association has provided sample policies to help school districts implement the law. The law was originally scheduled to go into effect Sept. 15 before state lawmakers approved an extension to Jan. 1.
Reasons for seeking a hearing
Schafer said the new law lists “very discreet issues” for seeking a hearing. There are many other things parents can appeal in the law but Schafer said that can only be done at the local level.
Those reasons listed for state appeals in the draft policy include:
▪ Failure of a child’s public school unit to adopt and implement policies to notify parents prior to any changes in the name or pronoun used for a student in school records or by school personnel.
▪ Procedures or practices that prohibit school employees from notifying parents about their child’s mental, emotional or physical health or well-being.
▪ Procedures or practices that encourage or have the effect of encouraging a child to withhold information from their parents about their mental, emotional or physical health or well-being.
▪ Procedures or practices that result in instruction on gender identity, sexual activity or sexuality in grades K-4.
“This is really just tracking the statute and making it clear what’s appealable so that we don’t have people thinking they can appeal anything that’s in that law when some of that there’s no right of appeal because it stops with the local board,” Schafer told the state board.
The policy eased the concerns of state board members who were worried that it could open the floodgates for hearings.
“It clarifies a lot,” said state board member J. Wendell Hall. “A lot of people think it’s just open-ended and that’s not the case.”
This story was originally published October 4, 2023 at 2:55 PM with the headline "State education board says it won’t hear appeals on school book challenges. Here’s why.."
