RALEIGH, N.C. — The legislative session in Raleigh is approaching its end, but that doesn’t mean the work of lawmakers is slowing down.

Over four months after the state Senate passed the Parents' Bill of Rights piece of legislation, the House has taken it up.

What You Need To Know

  •  The Parents' Bill of Rights passed the Senate in February

  •  This week, the House took up the legislation in committee

  •  Advocates say parents deserve to know what's happening in their child's classroom

  • Those against the bill say it will hurt students and hinder teachers

Renee Sekel was at the legislature back in February when the bill was first heard, and she was back in June when it was brought up again.

Sekel says about five years ago, she became an accidental advocate.

“I found out about an issue that was affecting our schools from one of our school board members, and I thought, well, ‘Hey, we need to fix that.’ And I very naively thought that would be quick and easy,” Sekel said.

Now she works for Red, Wine and Blue — a political organizing group aimed at suburban women.

She keeps her eyes on the legislature, and what bills are moving through, and the Parents' Bill of Rights is one of those bills.

The legislators, who sponsor the bill, say during COVID, parents got a new look inside the classroom, and that many are not getting the information they need or deserve from schools.

The bill lays out the rights parents have in the public school system.

It also prohibits curriculum from discussing gender identity, sexual activity and sexuality in lower grades.

It allows parents to sue a school if their issue isn’t resolved in a timely manner, and it requires teachers to tell parents if their child wants to change their name or pronouns.

Representative John Torbett spoke with Spectrum News 1 Anchor Tim Boyum on "Capital Tonight," and said they wanted to get the rights laid out in statute, so no parent had to wonder what their rights were.

Torbett said he understands the concerns he’s hearing, but that each parent is ultimately responsible for their own child.

Sekel disagrees with those lawmakers. She doesn’t think it’s necessary or helpful.

She knows from experience. Sekel’s oldest wanted to change their name to Cloude.

Originally, Sekel wasn’t on board with the change.

But Cloude could make the change at school.

“It was important to me just because I was a little worried about how my family might feel about the name change. And so I did want some safe testing grounds, and that’s what school was for me,” Cloude Fewkes said.

Now, Sekel is thankful that her child had that safe place to continue her journey, and she worries other children won’t get the chance.

“I can’t tell you that I handled it the best for a while,” Sekel said. “They were out at school before they were out to me. So I get it. I understand why parents are scared. But any parents who are looking at this and going, 'Well, so what?' I just want you to think about the kids who are going to be hurt. That might be in a worse situation than your own kids.”