Parents' Rights for their Child's Education
Under state law (S.L. 2023-106), parents are allowed to exercise the following rights with regards to their child’s education:
1. The right to consent or withhold consent for participation in reproductive health and safety education programs, consistent with the requirements of G.S. 115C-81.30.
2. The right to seek a medical or religious exemption from immunization requirements, consistent with the requirements of G.S. 130A-156 and G.S. 130A-157.
3. The right to review statewide standardized assessment results as part of the State Report Card.
4. The right to request an evaluation of their child for an academically or intellectually gifted program, or for identification as a child with a disability, as provided in Article 9 of this Chapter.
5. The right to inspect and purchase public school unit textbooks and other supplementary instructional materials, as provided in Part 3 of Article 8 of Chapter 115C.
6. The right to access information relating to the board's policies for promotion or retention, including high school graduation requirements.
7. The right to receive student report cards on a regular basis that clearly depict and grade the student's academic performance in each class or course, the student's conduct, and the student's attendance.
8. The right to access information relating to the State public education system, State standards, report card requirements, attendance requirements, and textbook requirements.
9. The right to participate in parent-teacher organizations.
10. The right to opt in to certain data collection for their child, as provided in Part 5 of Article 7B and Article 29 of Chapter 115C.
11. The right for students to participate in protected student information surveys only with parental consent, as provided in G.S. 115C-76.65.
12. The right to review all available records of materials their child has borrowed from a school library.
Notes
The Orange County Board of Education is currently reviewing existing board policies to incorporate updates based on Session Law 2023-106. If you are interested in learning more about the district's existing policies on parent involvement, please visit our Board of Education policy manual.
Existing policies on parent involvement and rights include but are not limited to:
Policy 1310: Parental Involvement
Policy 1742: Responding to Complaints
Policy 3110: Innovation in Curriculum and Instruction
Policy 3200: Selection of Instructional Materials
Policy 3210: Parental Inspection and Objection to Instructional Materials
Policy 3540: Comprehensive Health Education Program
Policy 6120: Student Health Services
Additional existing resources and forms that may be of interest to parents may be found in the:
OCS 2024-2025 Code of Student Conduct.
This page was last updated on September 9, 2024.