The House Select Committee on Oversight and Reform will hold a hearing December 10 at 9 a.m.

The committee will hear testimony from Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools (CHCCS) Board of Education Chair George Griffin and Superintendent Rodney Trice.

CHCCS came under scrutiny in October when a clip surfaced online of Griffin bragging that CHCCS was openly defying SB49, The Parents’ Bill of Rights. The bill became law in August 2023 when the General Assembly overrode Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto. The school board voted unanimously to refuse to develop policies that would notify parents when the school changed a student’s name or gender and keep gender identity, sexual activity, and sexuality out of the curriculum for children from kindergarten through fourth grade.

School board Chairman George Griffin in a video clip called it “ludicrous” to “wordsmith policies that legitimized discrimination.” Griffin added that CHCCS was “the only school district in North Carolina of 115 school districts that stood up to the General Assembly and said, ‘We’re not doing this.’” 

Despite the strong language on video, Griffin’s written testimony states, “To my knowledge, Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools has always been, and continues to be, in compliance with the law-including the Parents Bill of Rights.”  Superintendent Trice similarly states, “To my knowledge, the District has always complied with this law.” Other documents provided by the district, suggest some there may be some wordsmithing involved in reaching this conclusion.

Both written testimonies also tout the district’s academic performance and commitment to non-discrimination. Again, actions speak louder than words as black and Hispanic students perform near the same level as their peers across the state, reaching career and college ready status on end-of-year testing at less than half the rate of white students in the district.

“School systems funded by taxpayer dollars cannot run amok and make their own rules. Chapel-Hill Carrboro City Schools needs to focus on educating kids in science, reading, and math, rather than teaching them woke ideology.” Co-Chair Brenden Jones (R-Columbus) said.