A dispute over a teacher at a southern Wake County elementary school has divided parents at two school board meetings this month, with one group seeking advance notification and the option to move their children out of the class, and another group arguing that a teacher's gender identity is not a basis for either.
The disagreement began in late July, after state Rep. Erin Paré, R-Wake, posted on social media about parent concerns regarding what she described as a "biological male, who dresses as a woman" teaching at an elementary school in her district. WRAL and The News & Observer have not named the school or the teacher, citing concern for the teacher's safety; this article follows that practice.
The dispute does not involve what is taught in class. No parent, lawmaker or board member has alleged that the teacher is teaching gender identity as part of the elementary music curriculum. The disagreement centers on the teacher's identity and presentation, the title and pronouns students use in class, the questions young children may consequently ask at home or at school, and whether parents should receive advance notice or be allowed to move their children to another class.
At the Aug. 4 board meeting, 15 people spoke during nearly an hour of public comment, most identifying themselves as parents at the school. Aaron Driver, a parent of three, said the situation had prompted questions from young children. "Elementary school children are now asking questions about sex, gender identity, pronouns and gender presentation," he said. "That creates an educational issue and therefore a parental rights issue." Driver said he was disappointed that parents learned about the matter through social media, and that he wanted the district to tell parents in advance how teachers would answer questions about gender identity if students raised them.
Other parents at the same meeting said they did not share those concerns. "My kids did have a question or two, and we had a good conversation about how sometimes people don't feel at home in a box society creates," said Stephen Stacks, a parent at the school. "It was that simple." Anna Crollman, another parent, said: "What's confusing to students is attacking people based on how they might present, their appearance or their identity." Several speakers said they had not felt any concern until the school became the subject of national attention, and some said the matter was a distraction from the district's finances; the board had received $18 million in recommended budget adjustments earlier that afternoon.
At a second meeting on Aug. 18, more than a dozen people again spoke on both sides. Gina Carruci, a member of Moms for Liberty, said the teacher's presence put pressure on students: "Our children should be able to attend school without being pressured to adopt a particular belief or worldview." Kelli Wilhelm, president of the Raleigh-Apex NAACP, said she was concerned parents were seeking to remove the teacher from the classroom: "I believe we should be a community that says to every qualified educator who wants to serve our children, you belong here."
Parents who object to the hire have said they asked to move their children out of the class and were told no. WRAL reported it had asked the district how it plans to address the issue with parents and balance their concerns against employee rights, and that a district spokesperson said a response was being prepared.
North Carolina's Parents' Bill of Rights, enacted in 2023, prohibits instruction on gender identity and sexuality before fifth grade. The law specifies that answering a student's unsolicited question on those topics does not count as instruction. No party in the dispute has alleged that classroom instruction on those topics occurred.
Wake County Public School System policy bars discrimination in hiring based on several characteristics, including gender identity. "The district prohibits unlawful discrimination while taking into account all requirements in state and federal law," the district said in a statement to WRAL. The board revised its hiring policy in 2020 following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, which held that federal civil rights protections against sex discrimination extend to sexual orientation and gender identity. In 2024, the district updated its faculty and student dress codes to state that they cannot be applied in a way that discriminates against a protected class, a list that includes gender identity.
Board members have defended the hire. Lynn Edmonds said the hire broke no rules and that the district cannot discriminate against transgender people in hiring. Jennifer Job said courts have ruled against sex-based dress codes of the kind some parents have proposed, and criticized the attention the matter has drawn: "People online and in this room are willing to sacrifice this person's life for their culture war." Board member Cheryl Caulfield defended Paré before saying she hoped to return the board's focus to improving schools.
Paré has said she is "standing firm on this for the protection of our children" and that the district "should accommodate requests by parents to opt out of a class or be granted a school reassignment request." She has floated a sex-based dress code for public-school employees but told WRAL on July 28 that she was unsure of the legal nuances and had no specific policy proposal. That approach would face existing precedent: the Supreme Court in 2023 declined to hear a challenge involving Charter Day School in Brunswick County, leaving in place a federal ruling that the school's requirement that girls wear skirts was sex discrimination under Title IX.
The two positions rest on different premises rather than on a disputed set of facts. Parents seeking notification argue that a teacher's gender presentation itself prompts questions from young children, making it a subject parents should be able to anticipate and control. Parents and community members on the other side argue that treating a teacher's gender identity as a trigger for notice or removal would single out an employee for a characteristic the district's own policy protects. State law addresses instruction, not employees' identities, and it exempts answers to unsolicited student questions, so it does not resolve either claim directly.
Any change would come from one of two places: the school board, which sets notification and transfer policy and has so far pointed to its anti-discrimination rules, or the General Assembly, where Paré has raised the possibility of legislation without proposing specific language. Paré is seeking reelection in November in a competitive district covering parts of Holly Springs and Fuquay-Varina, which she won by about 6 percentage points in 2024. No board vote or bill has been scheduled.