Schools need more time to comply with Parents' Bill of Rights, state superintendent says

North Carolina's top education official is asking state lawmakers to postpone to Jan. 1 compliance with the controversial new Parents’ Bill of Rights.

The new law is expansive. It forbids any instruction or discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through fourth grade. And it requires schools to get parental consent before allowing a child to use a different name, pronouns or identifying themselves as something other than their gender at birth. It also restricts surveys on numerous topics, including political affiliations, religious practices or income.

Certain sections of the law went into effect Aug. 15 or at the start of the new school year. One section — related to parental permission for healthcare — goes into effect Dec. 1.

State Superintendent Catherine Truitt told the State Board of Education Thursday that state officials and school systems still have too many questions about how to comply with the law and are still waiting for answers. It’s preventing them from being able to implement the law now.

Board members also said they were hearing concerns from school systems about implementing the law and wanting for guidance to help. Truitt and the Department of Public Instruction are planning guidance for school systems, with the hope the guidance will be ready by the beginning of October.

Truitt said she’s been talking with lawmakers about delaying compliance deadlines, as well as placing a carve-out in state law that allows schools to continue to administer a survey targeted in the law.

A spokesman for Senate leader Phil Berger says lawmakers are aware of the concerns and are working to address them.

“I feel very good about the conversations we’re having,” Truitt said.

With the start of a new school year and a short window to comply, Truitt said “it is very, very bad timing for our districts.”

For example, Truitt said she isn’t sure what permission is and isn’t required for schools to provide medical services to children in emergency cases.

Many school systems are waiting on policy guidance from the North Carolina School Boards Association, which often drafts recommended policies for school boards. The association is still working on that guidance. One exception is the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board, which has approved multiple new policies, though not without strong reactions, WCNC reported.

The NC Values Coalition issued a statement Thursday evening opposing a delay in implementing the law.

"Delaying implementation only deprives parents of their legal rights to know what’s being taught to their children in school, and to direct the mental and physical health of their children," the group said.

While many school systems are awaiting guidance on interpretation from different statewide officials, every school system has attorneys on contract that can form their own interpretations of the law, the group argued.

The new law, Senate Bill 49, requires parental permission to opt into surveys that ask questions about sexual behavior, illegal activity or mental health issues. Truitt wants to keep the Youth Risk Behavior Survey as an opt-out survey that doesn’t require parental permission to administer.

The survey is anonymous and asks students about whether they engage is certain behaviors, such as drinking alcohol, riding in a car without a seat belt or having sex without using a condom. It’s used by professionals to measure the prevalence of certain problems among young people and to measure the potential success of certain educational efforts to teach young people to reduce their health risks. State officials use it to help determine wellness programming.

The survey has a lot of value, Truitt said, and its accuracy would be diminished by requiring parents to opt-in.

“It is difficult to get permission slips back,” she said.

The new law also requires parental consent for providing health care to children.

Truitt said one of her children once fainted at school. The school called EMS first and then her, which she said she was thankful for.

Board advisor Henry Mercer, a Wilson County school board member, said he didn’t want educators to worry in an emergency.

“We need to find a way to make teachers comfortable with it,” he said.

WRAL State Government Reporter Travis Fain contributed to this article.