State Board of Education to consider rules for hearings to address parents’ concerns

The State Board of Education is expected to adopt temporary rules Thursday to govern parents’ requests for hearings before the state board when they have concerns about a school district’s policies or practices.

Lawmakers required the state board to make provision for such hearings in the state’s new “Parents’ Bill of Rights” law, which requires educators to alert parents if their child changes their name or pronoun at school. The law also restricts instruction about gender identity and sexuality in K-4 classrooms.

The new rules must be in place by Jan. 30. NCDPI staffers will ask the board to consider permanent rules later in the year.

The new rules describe “practice” as a “regular method, process, or course of conduct, whether or not established in the written policies.” It does not, however, cover “isolated conduct” by school personnel, including conduct that is inconsistent with established procedures.

Meanwhile, “procedure” is a regular method or process established in written policies of school districts or age-appropriate instruction on certain topics. It does not apply to isolated incidents or isolated conduct of individual district personnel.

Parental hearings must be requested in writing and submitted to the state board. Copies of the request must be sent to the state superintendent.

The written request must include the procedures or practices that concern the parent and the specific concerns the parent has. The parent must submit copies of all written correspondence and summaries of all verbal correspondence regarding the concern and efforts by the school district to resolve the problem.

The state board or its designee may dismiss the concern if a parent fails to provide required information or if the parent has not given the school district 30 days to resolve the concern. A complaint may also be dismissed if the state board or its designee determines that a parent’s proposed resolution is not within the legal jurisdiction of the district or state board.

If the state board or its designee grants a hearing, school districts will be responsible for paying a hearing officer $200 per hour. The state board may approve, reject or amend a hearing officer’s recommendation.