Top North Carolina legislators want Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools leaders to prove district educators are following laws governing classroom discussions of pronouns and sexual orientation.

State Rep. Brenden Jones, a Columbus County Republican, said Friday that the House Oversight Committee in January will start requiring the district to demonstrate in writing each month that the district is following a set of laws known as the “Parents’ Bill of Rights.”

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“House Oversight has formally notified Chapel Hill–Carrboro Schools that beginning in January, they must provide monthly documentation demonstrating full and ongoing compliance with [Senate Bill] 49,” Jones said in a social media post. 

Andy Jenks, a spokesperson for Chapel Hill schools, confirmed that district leaders have received the letter but said they have no comment at this time.

The move comes two days after Jones and other members of the committee grilled Chapel Hill school officials over comments made last year by the district’s board chairman, George Griffin.

Video footage that circulated on social media in October shows Griffin saying in January 2024 that parts of the law are discriminatory and Chapel Hill educators shouldn’t follow it. Griffin also stated in a February 2024 email to staff that the board had voted to adopt the new law as policy, with the exception of the provisions related to classroom discussions and notifying parents a change in their child’s pronouns.

On Wednesday, Griffin said the district is complying with the law and apologized for any “misunderstandings” that his comments caused. The provisions that weren’t addressed by the board in February 2024 were later adopted as policy after the board directed the district’s administration to develop written procedures and guidance for staff, Griffin told the committee. 

The district has said that the additional guidance complies with the law and goes above and beyond the language in the statute. 

Those attestations have failed to satisfy some Republican legislators on the committee who accused the chairman of lying about the district’s efforts to comply with the law. 

In a letter to Chapel Hill school leaders on Friday, Jones and other committee leaders accused Griffin of using “bureaucratic legalese” to dodge the committee’s questions. The letter calls on Chapel Hill schools officials to provide a number of records, including documentation of:

  • “Any accusations, reports or evidence of biological males using female bathrooms or locker rooms.”
    • Proof that “all parents of students using different names or pronouns at school have been notified and describe how the district will ensure ongoing compliance with SB 49.”
      • “The process for parental notification of name or pronoun changes. If the parent objects after being notified of the requested name/gender change, what does the school do?”