Durham Public Schools approves policy change to reflect Parents' Bill of Rights
Thursday evening, the Durham Public School Board of Education voted to update their policies to be in line with state law – specifically, in line with Senate Bill 49, also called the Parents' Bill of Rights by conservative supporters.
The new law, in part, changes how LGBTQIA+ students are treated, requiring teachers and schools to tell parents if their student requests to change their name or gender pronouns.
It also requires the school to inform parents about changes to their child's mental, emotional or physical health services.
Some critics – including students – are concerned the bill will change how LGBTQIA+ students are treated. Some students even attended the meeting, expressing their worry about what this law will do once in effect next year.
One student at Jordan high school made that point during tonight's meeting.
"There's an extensive body of research demonstrating again and again the correlation of forced outings of LGTBQ individuals and the increase rates of suicide and self harm," said the student.
Advocates for the law say this will empower parents to have more say in what their child is learning in school; however, critics believe alerting parents if their student requests a name change or gender pronouns is harmful – and could have deadly consequences.
The new state law goes into effect the first day of school in January.
LGBTQIA+ groups fight to stop bill from being implemented
LGBTQ+ groups have filed a complaint and asked a Title Nine coordinator to stop implementing the bill.
Rainbow Collective program director Anne Sutkowi-Hemstreet said a group of LGBTQIA+ families is working to create more inclusive spaces for kids and families.
"It is an attempt to force harm upon LGBTQ kids, particularly transgender and non-binary gender diverse children," Sutkowi-Hemstreet said.
Sutkowi-Hemstreet two kids of her own aged 4 and 7.
"My wife and I parent our children together, and I don't think [Senate Bill 49] is looking out for my rights as a parent," Sutkowi-Hemstreet said. "They're really the rights of some other families, maybe."
Earlier in the week, three LGBTQIA+ groups asked DPS to stop the bill’s implementation.
School board chair Bettina Umstead said, "We recognize that Senate Bill 49 may have some negative impacts on some of the students and families, so we have crafted our policies in a way that we will hope protects and families and provides the necessary supports needed."
Umstead said the updated draft will still include the school’s LGBTQIA+ and gender support policy.
Wake County Public School System leaders have already approved several new policies under the Parents' Bill of Rights, including:
- Notifying parents of survey questions being asked of students
- Requiring school systems to send parents copies of survey questions
- Allowing parents to request a list of materials their child gets from the library
- Asking staff to not encourage a child to keep a secret from a parent
The Wake County school board did not vote on a policy requiring parents to be informed if their child wants to go by a different name or change pronouns.
