NC’s Parents’ Bill of Rights prompts cancellations for domestic violence classes in CMS

Mary Ramsey, Rebecca Noel
·3 min read
One email in the public records reviewed by the Observer showed CMS employees saying books removed as ‘supplementary instruction materials’ was not the same as them being removed from libraries.

North Carolina’s Parents’ Bill of Rights is affecting students’ ability to learn about domestic violence in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, says the chair of the county’s Domestic Violence Advisory Board.

LoveSpeaksOut canceled or postponed dozens of sessions in CMS since the the measure, Senate Bill 49, became law last year, Tanisha Patterson-Powe, who chairs the Domestic Violence Advisory Board, told county commissioners Tuesday. The citizen-led board is responsible for evaluating Charlotte and Mecklenburg County’s domestic violence services, raising awareness about and advising the commission and Charlotte City Council on gaps in services and the needs of survivors.

The LoveSpeaksOut program works in schools and other community settings to educate teens about dating abuse and violence, including warning signs of abuse, prevention and healthy relationships. In CMS schools, the course is offered as part of reproductive health classes, according to Patterson-Powe.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools hasn’t returned a request for comment about the delays and cancellations.

LoveSpeaksOut postponed 53 sessions in CMS schools “to allow parents time to decide to opt in or not,” Patterson-Powe said in her presentation. Six sessions have been canceled due to low opt-in rates. Four schools “have indicated they cannot schedule sessions due to low opt-in rates,” she said.

One of the provisions of Senate Bill 49 requires parents to explicitly opt-in for their child to receive sex ed programming. Without any action on the part of their parents, a student will not take part in that programming by default.

Solutions to delays, cancellations

Patterson-Powe asked county commissioners to work with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education “to identify solutions” on the issue and monitor the Parents’ Bill of Rights’ impact on the county’s “ability to reach youth with early education and prevention services.”

Commissioner Laura Meier questioned whether county staff could do more to lobby the state legislature on the issue.

“It makes me see red,” she said of Patterson-Powe’s report.

Gov. Roy Cooper initially vetoed Senate Bill 49 on July 5, saying legislators were “burdening schools with their political culture wars.” The NC General Assembly later overrode the governor’s veto, and the law took effect in August. Besides opt-ins, the law has provisions pertaining to what content is taught in schools and what school records parents have access to.

The law prohibits the instruction of topics related to sexuality or gender identity to children in kindergarten through fourth grade, which prompted CMS to end access to popular e-book app Epic over concerns about what books elementary school students had access to.

‘We stay out of that’

County Manager Dena Diorio told Meier county staff hasn’t “lobbied specifically against the Parents Bill of Rights.”

“We stay out of that. We lobby for things that are aligned to the board’s priorities and our legislative agenda,” she said.

Patterson-Powe said throughout her presentation the county struggles to make residents aware of the resources available to combat domestic violence.

“Mecklenburg County and community nonprofits offer a plethora of services and assistance related to domestic violence. Yet it feels as though a sizable part of our community remains unaware of those resources being available,” she said.

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