North Carolina’s Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools was challenged Thursday by the state’s House Oversight Committee for the second time in less than six months for allegedly infringing on parents’ rights. 

The committee discovered 155 books in the school district containing stories related to sexuality and gender identity – some of which are available to children as young as 4 years old – and accused Chapel Hill Schools of being in violation of the Parents’ Bill of Rights.  

“Most kindergarteners I know are worried if they get apples or french fries with their Happy Meal, not worrying about if they’re binary or non-binary,” Committee Chairman and State Rep. Brenden Jones (Republican) said.  

The Parents’ Bill of Rights, also known as Senate Bill 49, is a state law that declares parents are the primary decision makers for their children and have the ultimate authority in their upbringing.   

“Under what situation does your school district or your employees know what’s better for a student?” State Rep. and Oversight Committee Member Brian Echevarria asked CHCCS Superintendent Dr. Rodney Trice. “Remember, they’re your students but they’re someone else’s children. You often refer to them as your children except, they’re not your children- they’re the children of their parents.”

Trice and Library/Digital Services Director Al McArthur were summoned by the Oversight Committee to testify on behalf of the school district. Trice became superintendent in July 2025 and had already appeared once before the committee over parental rights concerns. 

Trice defended the books, saying they represent the diversity of the community. 

“Our community is very satisfied with the range of resources that we provide our students, our families, and we look forward to continuing to do so,” Trice said.  

The heated committee meeting lasted over two hours, and Jones read excerpts from LGBTQ+ books available to elementary students. Trice refused to read the books. 

“If it’s too inappropriate to read here, it’s certainly too inappropriate for the children,” Jones argued.  

“Do you understand how these books openly indoctrinate young children and strip parents of their rights to raise their own children the way they see fit?” 

Trice didn’t agree with the statement.  

“Materials that talk about sexuality, describing sexual acts, illustrating sexual acts, shouldn’t be in elementary school libraries,” Jones declared. “Can we just agree on that?” 

“I’m not necessarily agreeing with that,” Trice answered.  

Jones also shared a page from the picture book Grandad’s Pride depicting two men kissing, one of which is in leather sexual fetish attire. This book is currently available for Chapel Hill elementary schoolers to check out.  

BREAKING NEWS: Watch as Rodney Trice, Supt of schools of Chapel Hill/Carrboro in NC, acts as if he sees nothing wrong with kindergartners seeing inappropriate content.

This is unbelievable!! This is sick!!! pic.twitter.com/QX6uwMDd9I

— John K. Amanchukwu Sr. (@REVWUTRUTH) April 23, 2026

Trice reacted to the picture by saying “I’m not sure what I’m looking at.” 

This book is available for kids 5 and up. pic.twitter.com/PAnlbSZosa

— FRONTLINES TPUSA (@FrontlinesTPUSA) April 23, 2026

“You’re not sure what you’re looking at but you’re okay if your kindergarteners look at it?” Jones retorted. 

“I don’t understand what the challenge is,” Trice replied. “I see a Pride flag. I see community. I see two couples who appear to be in a loving relationship. They’re not breaking any laws, they’re not hurting anyone, and that’s certainly something a child may see in their community.” 

In a written testimony sent to the committee, Trice said “diverse” books are important because children are more likely to read in their free time if they find books that are personally engaging to them.  

Rep. Heather Rhyne

State Rep. Heather Rhyne, who is also a member of the committee, argued books that are more age appropriate, such as Chip ‘n Dale, Bugs Bunny, Tom and Jerry and Casper the Friendly Ghost, could be just as engaging for children to read.  

“I mean, I don’t think to date we have anybody identifying as a bunny, a ghost or a chipmunk, and yet it sounds like these books in the study you cited can still be very effective,” she said. 

McArthur explained that licensed librarians evaluate books based on certain criteria, child safety being one of them, before choosing which ones should be available to the students. Trice noted parents can flag books they don’t want their children to check out, and the librarians will enforce that.  

In the December committee meeting, the school district was under the microscope for allegedly disregarding the Parents’ Bill of Rights’ requirement to notify parents and secure parental consent before changing a child’s name or pronouns to aid gender transitions. 

Chapel Hill Schools was also criticized for inappropriate books available to children. At that meeting, Jones read from the library book These are my Eyes, This is my Nose, This is my Vulva, These are my Toes. 

North Carolina State Rep. Brenden Jones torched school officials over books he says contain soft p0rn for 4 year olds during a fiery oversight hearing. pic.twitter.com/0KkGxbF7HH

— Don Keith (@RealDonKeith) December 11, 2025

“Some boys have a penis, but not all boys do, so always use your manners, what may I call you?” one excerpt from the book says. 

Jones used the book It Isn’t Rude To Be Nude – a soft-pornographic book available to children as young as 4 – as another example. The book contains illustrations of naked people. 

Jones has now introduced a piece of legislation that would penalize schools for not following the Parents’ Bill of Rights. The bill bears the same acronym as the school district: CHCCS (Curriculum Honesty Compliance and Child Safety) Act. 

“When a district chooses not to follow the law, it should not expect to continue receiving tax-payer dollars without accountability,” Jones said. 

“Is this the hill you want to die on, the Democrats want to die on?” Jones asked regarding inappropriate books. “Indoctrinating young children? … You’re on the wrong side of history.” 

(Photo by Anita Jankovic, Unsplash)