Titles the act the “Curriculum Honesty, Compliance, and Child Safety (CHCCS) Act.”

Expands the legal rights for parents pertaining to their child’s education in GS 115C-76.25 to include:

• The right to consent to official changes to their child's name, gender designation, or identity within school records. Prevents a school from changing these without first receiving consent from a parent.
• The right to access the educational records of their child, including counseling records, intervention records, behavioral and support plans, and communications with third parties regarding the student.

Makes conforming changes to GS 115C-76.45 (notifications of student physical and mental health) to reflect the need for consent for any changes in student name or pronoun use. Requires the school to provide written notice to the parents, before acting on described sensitive matters (including receiving counseling services related to the student’s sexuality or gender identity, receiving outside referrals related to the student’s mental health, emotional well-being or sexuality or gender identity, or classroom or school-wide discussions regarding gender identity). Expands the types of curriculum where instruction on gender identity, sexual activity, or sexuality is not allowed under GS 115C-76.55 (age-appropriate instruction for grades kindergarten through fourth grade), to include any electronic, print, or non-print resources for independent use by students and school personnel and not used as part of the standard course of study for any grade or course. Prohibits teachers teaching students in kindergarten through fourth grade from using any third-party resources for instruction, including instructional materials, supplementary materials, or websites, except those provided by the public school unit.

Enacts Part 2 “Legal Remedies” to Article 7B of GS Chapter 115C. Creates civil remedies allowing a parent to bring a civil action against a public school unit for declaratory relief, injunctive relief, statutory damages of $5,000 per violation, reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs, and other appropriate relief as determined by the court for violations of the Article. Requires the parent to exhaust their administrative remedies prior to filing suit.

Enacts Part 10, “Investigative Authority and Public School Unit Accountability” to Article 7B of GS Chapter 115C, which authorizes both the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) and the State Auditor (Auditor) to conduct investigations into noncompliance with Article 7B in new GS 115C-76.150.  Authorizes these entities to perform four functions as part of any investigation, including conducting audits, interviewing personnel, and issuing formal findings of noncompliance. Instructs that a formal finding triggers the accountability measures set forth in GS 115C-76.155, which is that the entity responsible for allocating funds to the public school unit must withhold from the noncompliant public school unit funding, or assess administrative penalties equivalent to the amount to be withheld, until the Auditor determines that the public school unit is no longer noncompliant and provides notice to the entity. Sets forth methods for determining amounts withheld for local school administrative units, charter schools, regional schools, laboratory schools, and residential schools. Provides for a cure period, as described, before imposing accountability measures. Provides for notice. Enables a public unit to continue to submit evidence of cure to the Auditor to show sufficient changes to be compliant with Article 7B beyond the cure period. Requires the Auditor to continue to evaluate evidence of cure submitted by a public school unit until the Auditor makes a determination that the public school unit is compliant. Specifies that once the Auditor finds that a public school unit is compliant with Article 7B after the end of the cure period, then any funds withheld will be released to the public school unit and any administrative penalties assessed will be forgiven.

Makes conforming change to GS 115C-218.105(a2) (those instances where the State Board of Education has to withhold or reduce distribution of charter school funds) and GS 147-64.6 (responsibilities of the Auditor).

Creates an exception in GS 115C-321 (generally designating school personnel records as confidential) for the General Assembly to access school personnel records upon subpoena.

Appropriates $10,000 from the General Fund to DPI for 2026-27 to implement the act.

Effective July 1, 2026.