FILED SENATE
Jan 31, 2023
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
S.B. 49
SESSION 2023 PRINCIPAL CLERK
S D
SENATE BILL DRS35021-TC-20
Short Title: Parents' Bill of Rights. (Public)
Sponsors: Senators Galey, Lee, and Barnes (Primary Sponsors).
Referred to:
1 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
2 AN ACT TO ENUMERATE THE RIGHTS OF PARENTS TO DIRECT THE UPBRINGING,
3 EDUCATION, HEALTH CARE, AND MENTAL HEALTH OF THEIR MINOR
4 CHILDREN.
5 The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
6
7 PART I. PARENTS' BILL OF RIGHTS
8 SECTION 1. Subchapter VI of Chapter 115C of the General Statutes is amended by
9 adding a new Article to read:
10 "Article 29F.
11 "Parents' Bill of Rights.
12 "§ 115C-407.70. Definitions.
13 The following definitions apply in this Article:
14 (1) Reserved for future codification purposes.
15 (2) Child. – A person less than 18 years of age who has not been emancipated
16 pursuant to Article 35 of Chapter 7B of the General Statutes.
17 (3) Reserved for future codification purposes.
18 (4) Reserved for future codification purposes.
19 (5) Parent. – A person who has legal custody of a child, including a natural parent,
20 adoptive parent, or legal guardian.
21 (6) State. – The State, any of its political subdivisions, or any public school unit.
22 "§§ 115C-407.71 through 115C-407.72. Reserved for future codification purposes.
23 "§ 115C-407.73. Parents' bill of rights.
24 A parent has the right to the following:
25 (1) To direct the education and care of his or her child.
26 (2) To direct the upbringing and moral or religious training of his or her child.
27 (3) To enroll his or her child in a public or nonpublic school and in any school
28 choice options available to the parent for which the child is otherwise eligible
29 by law in order to comply with compulsory attendance laws, as provided in
30 Part 1 of Article 26 of this Chapter.
31 (4) To access and review all education records, as authorized by the federal
32 Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, 20 U.S.C. § 1232g, relating to his
33 or her child.
34 (5) To make health care decisions for his or her child, unless otherwise provided
35 by law, including Article 1A of Chapter 90 of the General Statutes.
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 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2023
1 (6) To access and review all medical records of his or her child, as authorized by
2 the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA),
3 P.L. 104-191, as amended, except as follows:
4 a. If the parent is the subject of an investigation of (i) a crime committed
5 against the child under Chapter 14 of the General Statutes or (ii) an
6 abuse and neglect complaint under Chapter 7B of the General Statutes
7 and an individual authorized to conduct that investigation requests that
8 the information not be released to the parent.
9 b. When otherwise prohibited by law.
10 (7) To prohibit the creation, sharing, or storage of a biometric scan of his or her
11 child without the parent's prior written consent, except as authorized pursuant
12 to a court order or otherwise required by law, including G.S. 7B-2102 and
13 G.S. 7B-2201.
14 (8) To prohibit the creation, sharing, or storage of his or her child's blood or
15 deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) without the parent's prior written consent,
16 except as authorized pursuant to a court order or otherwise required by law,
17 including G.S. 7B-2201.
18 (9) To prohibit the creation by the State of a video or voice recording of his or her
19 child without the parent's prior written consent, except a recording made in
20 the following circumstances:
21 a. During or as part of a court proceeding.
22 b. As part of an investigation under Chapter 7B or Chapter 14 of the
23 General Statutes.
24 c. When the recording will be used solely for any of the following
25 purposes:
26 1. A safety demonstration, including one related to security and
27 discipline on educational property.
28 2. An academic or extracurricular activity.
29 3. Classroom instruction.
30 4. Photo identification cards.
31 5. Security or surveillance of buildings or grounds.
32 (10) To be promptly notified if an employee of the State suspects that a criminal
33 offense has been committed against his or her child, unless the incident has
34 first been reported to law enforcement or the county child welfare agency, and
35 notification of the parent would impede the investigation.
36 "§§ 115C-407.74 through 115C-407.75. Reserved for future codification purposes.
37 "§ 115C-407.76. Limitations on the right to parent.
38 (a) The requirements of this Article do not authorize a parent to do any of the following:
39 (1) Engage in unlawful conduct.
40 (2) Abuse or neglect the child, as defined in Chapter 7B of the General Statutes.
41 (b) The requirements of this Article do not prohibit the following:
42 (1) A State official or employee from acting in his or her official capacity within
43 the reasonable and prudent scope of his or her authority.
44 (2) A court of competent jurisdiction from acting in its official capacity within
45 the reasonable and prudent scope of its authority or issuing an order otherwise
46 permitted by law.
47 "§§ 115C-407.77 through 115C-407.78. Reserved for future codification purposes.
48 "§ 115C-407.79. Employee penalties.
49 An employee of the State who encourages, coerces, or attempts to encourage or coerce a child
50 to withhold information from his or her parent may be subject to disciplinary action."
51
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1 PART II. PARENTAL GUIDES AND NOTIFICATIONS
2 SECTION 2.(a) Subchapter III of Chapter 115C of the General Statutes is amended
3 by adding a new Article to read:
4 "Article 7B.
5 "Public School Unit Requirements.
6 "Part 1. Definitions.
7 "§ 115C-76.1. Definitions.
8 As used in this Article, the following definitions apply:
9 (1) Reserved for future codification purposes.
10 (2) Child. – A person less than 18 years of age who has not been emancipated
11 pursuant to Article 35 of Chapter 7B of the General Statutes.
12 (3) Reserved for future codification purposes.
13 (4) Reserved for future codification purposes.
14 (5) Parent. – A person who has legal custody of a child, including a natural parent,
15 adoptive parent, or legal guardian.
16 (6) Principal. – A school administrator employed as a principal of a school, as
17 provided in Article 19 of this Chapter, or the staff member with the highest
18 decision-making authority at a school, if there is no principal.
19 (7) School personnel. – Any of the following:
20 a. An employee of a public school unit, whether full-time or part-time,
21 including substitute teachers, driver training teachers, bus drivers,
22 clerical staff, and custodians.
23 b. An independent contractor or employee of an independent contractor
24 of a public school unit, if the independent contractor carries out duties
25 customarily performed by school personnel and has significant access
26 to students, whether paid with federal, State, local, or other funds.
27 (8) Superintendent. – Any of the following:
28 a. A superintendent of a local school administrative unit, as provided in
29 Article 18 of this Chapter, or designee.
30 b. The staff member with the highest decision-making authority for a
31 public school unit, if there is no superintendent or designee.
32 "§§ 115C-76.2 through 115C-76.4. Reserved for future codification purposes.
33 "Part 3. Parental Involvement in Public School Units.
34 "§ 115C-76.5. Priority of parental involvement in public school.
35 (a) The General Assembly finds that parental involvement and empowerment is
36 fundamental to the successful education of all students. To strengthen partnerships among parents
37 and school personnel, public school units and all public school unit personnel shall fully support
38 and cooperate in implementing a well-planned, inclusive, and comprehensive program to assist
39 parents and families in effectively participating in their child's education.
40 (b) To ensure active engagement and timely provision of information that parents can use
41 to improve success for their child, public school units shall comply with the requirements of this
42 Part to do all of the following:
43 (1) Inform parents of their legal rights and responsibilities with regards to their
44 child's education.
45 (2) Provide a parent's guide for student achievement annually to parents to
46 provide information parents need to know about their child's educational
47 progress and how they can help their child to succeed in school.
48 (3) Develop policies to effectively involve parents in schools and their child's
49 education.
50 "§ 115C-76.6. Parent legal rights for their child's education.
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1 (a) Parents have legal rights with regards to their child's education, including the
2 following:
3 (1) The right to consent or withhold consent for participation in reproductive
4 health and safety education programs, consistent with the requirements of
5 G.S. 115C-81.30.
6 (2) The right to seek a medical or religious exemption from immunization
7 requirements, consistent with the requirements of G.S. 130A-156 and
8 G.S. 130A-157.
9 (3) The right to review statewide standardized assessment results as part of the
10 State report card.
11 (4) The right to request an evaluation of their child for an academically or
12 intellectually gifted program, or for identification as a child with a disability,
13 as provided in Article 9 of this Chapter.
14 (5) The right to inspect and purchase public school unit textbooks and other
15 supplementary instructional materials, as provided in Part 3 of Article 8 of this
16 Chapter.
17 (6) The right to access information relating to the unit's policies for promotion or
18 retention, including high school graduation requirements.
19 (7) The right to receive student report cards on a regular basis that clearly depict
20 and grade the student's academic performance in each class or course, the
21 student's conduct, and the student's attendance.
22 (8) The right to access information relating to the State public education system,
23 State standards, report card requirements, attendance requirements, and
24 textbook requirements.
25 (9) The right to participate in parent-teacher organizations.
26 (10) The right to opt out of certain data collection for their child, as provided in
27 Article 29 of this Chapter.
28 (11) The right for students to participate in protected student information surveys
29 only with parental consent, as provided in Part 5 of this Article.
30 (12) The right to review all available records of materials their child has borrowed
31 from a school library.
32 (b) Public school units shall (i) allow parents to exercise these rights and (ii) make the
33 rights contained in this section available to parents electronically or by displaying the information
34 on the website of the public school unit.
35 "§ 115C-76.7. Parent's guide for student achievement.
36 (a) The State Board of Education shall develop minimum requirements for public school
37 units for a parent's guide to student achievement to provide what parents need to know about
38 their child's educational progress and how they can help their child to succeed in school. These
39 minimum requirements shall include at least the following:
40 (1) Parental information regarding the following:
41 a. Requirements for his or her child to be promoted to the next grade,
42 including the requirements of Part 1A of Article 8 of this Chapter.
43 b. The course of study, textbooks, and other supplementary instructional
44 materials for his or her child and the policies for inspection and review
45 of those materials.
46 c. Progress of his or her child toward achieving State and unit
47 expectations for academic proficiency, including policies for student
48 assessment, and his or her child's assessment results, report cards, and
49 progress reports.
50 d. Qualifications of his or her child's teachers, including licensure status.
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1 e. School entry requirements, including required immunizations and the
2 recommended immunization schedule.
3 (2) Parental actions that can do the following:
4 a. Strengthen the child's academic progress, especially in the area of
5 reading as provided in Part 1A of Article 8 of this Chapter.
6 b. Strengthen the child's citizenship, especially social skills and respect
7 for others.
8 c. Strengthen the child's realization of high expectations and setting
9 lifelong learning goals.
10 d. Place a strong emphasis on the communication between the school and
11 the home.
12 (3) Services available for parents and their children, such as family literacy
13 services; mentoring, tutoring, and other academic reinforcement programs;
14 college planning, academic advisement, and student counseling services; and
15 after-school programs.
16 (4) Opportunities for parental participation, such as parenting classes, adult
17 education, school advisory councils, and school volunteer programs.
18 (5) Opportunities for parents to learn about rigorous academic programs that may
19 be available for their child, such as honors programs, Career and College
20 Promise and other dual enrollment opportunities, advanced placement,
21 Advanced International Certificate of Education (AICE) courses,
22 International Baccalaureate, North Carolina Virtual High School courses, and
23 accelerated access to postsecondary education.
24 (6) Educational choices available to parents, including each type of p