NC lawmakers grill Chapel Hill-Carrboro schools as a heated State House hearing erupts over book controversies, and compliance with the Parents’ Bill of Rights.
RALEIGH, NC — Raleigh was HOTTT on Wednesday — and not from the weather. A House committee hearing at the North Carolina General Assembly turned into straight reality-TV-level chaos as GOP lawmakers tag-teamed Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools officials over books, student policies, and whether the district is actually following the state’s spicy Parents’ Bill of Rights law.
And when we say “chaos,” we mean books being thrown, voices rising, lawmakers clutching pearls… the whole production.
“SANTA’S HUSBAND”
Republicans came READY with props.
House Majority Leader Rep. Brenden Jones (R-Columbus) pulled out the children’s book Santa’s Husband —the one with a Black Santa married to a white man — and held it up. Jones claimed CHCCS had this book on elementary reading lists, calling it “inappropriate” and hinting that the district was pushing content that goes against state law.
Then he flipped the script by dragging out more titles he said were promoted by the district, including:
These Are My Eyes, This Is My Nose, This Is My Vulva
These Are My Toes
It Isn’t Rude to Be Nude
He even read some lines out loud before literally tossing one of the books over his shoulder like yesterday’s trash.
THE PARENT RIGHTS SHOWDOWN
At the heart of the argument is NC’s Parents’ Bill of Rights, a 2023 law that limits LGBTQ-related instruction in early grades and forces schools to notify parents about changes in a child’s health or identity.
Republican lawmakers basically accused CHCCS of doing the law when they feel like it, pointing to viral clips and emails from School Board Chair George Griffin where he previously suggested districts shouldn’t have to follow parts of the law.
Griffin, now playing cleanup, told lawmakers that his comments were “misunderstood” and insisted:
“We are fully in compliance.”
SCHOOL OFFICIALS CLAP BACK
CHCCS Superintendent Rodney Trice and Griffin denied EVERYTHING when it came to the books.
They said Santa’s Husband isn’t in any classroom, isn’t in any school library, and isn’t even on a recommended list.
The district said they went back, checked AGAIN, and confirmed:
“That book is not offered.”
They added that recommending books to kids is ultimately up to parents, not the school.
