NC school district backs off from dropping protections for LGBTQ+ students and staff
One of North Carolina’s largest school districts has backed off — for now — from eliminating anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ students and school employees.
On Tuesday, the Johnston County school board removed from its agenda votes on removing sexual orientation and gender identity from its anti-discrimination policy as well as the student use of social networking sites policy.
The board had planned to vote on the policies due to the Trump administration’s threat to remove federal funding from schools that promote diversity, equity and inclusion.
The policies were referred back to the board’s policy committee, which will discuss them on Thursday.
“Our desire is to make sure we are following state and federal law,” said school board chair Lyn Andrews. “I do want to make this statement: Every child in Johnston County Public Schools is to be free of bullying and harassment.”
A number of people came to Tuesday’s school board meeting to voice concerns about the proposed change.
“Removing explicit protections for LGBTQIA+ students and staff is not a policy change,” Margaret-Anne Mirabella told the board. “It’s an attack on some of the most vulnerable members of our school communities.
“It sends a clear and dangerous message that these students do not deserve the same protections and respect as their peers. That’s unacceptable.”
The school board’s decision to table any action came the same day the state Senate passed a bill that GOP lawmaker say will end DEI in public schools. The bill now goes to the House.
Proposed changes to JoCo school policies
The Johnston County school board is officially non-partisan but has a Republican majority and a population that voted for Trump in last year’s election. It’s North Carolina’s seventh-largest school district, with more than 36,000 students.
On Tuesday, the school board was scheduled to revise its prohibition against discrimination, harassment and bullying policy.
Sexual orientation was going to be deleted from a sentence saying: “The Board prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, disability, or age.”
Sexual orientation and gender identity were to be removed from a sentence listing the kinds of characteristics that people are prohibited from bullying or harassing a person about.
The board was also scheduled to vote on removing sexual orientation from the cyberbullying section of a policy on student use of social networking sites, blogging and the internet.
Andrews told the audience they were tabling the votes Tuesday.
“We just want to make sure we are clear on what we’re doing and what we think is best for Johnston County Schools,” Andrews said.
Will LGBTQ+ students still be safe?
Even if the policy is changed, Andrews said school leaders will not tolerate the bullying or harassment of any student.
“Every student deserves the right to come to school and feel safe and feel as though they will not be bullied and will not be harassed,” Andrews said. “We know that that happens. That’s why we have a Code of Student Conduct to address that.”
But multiple speakers Tuesday were skeptical of Andrews’ reassurances. The board was told there would be “blood on its hands” if any LGBTQ+ students were hurt as a result of the policy changes.
“You’re tasked with protecting, serving the public students in this county,” said Paige Stallings, who is a parent of a current student. “Not excluding the ones you do not like politically or religiously or whatever agenda it is that you have for your stepping stone to the next job.”
Allen Hall, a frequent critic of the school board, said the district would be on the “wrong side of history” if it ultimately approved the policy changes. He compared it to how prior school boards had fought against school integration in the 1960s.
“Now in 2025 you are flirting with another disgraceful decision, one future generations will read about in shame,” Hall said.
In 2023, the school board passed a policy removing books about gender identity from elementary school libraries. In 2021, the board passed a Code of Ethics policy requiring teachers to say “all people who contributed to American Society will be recognized and presented as reformists, innovators and heroes to our culture.”
Trump orders end to ‘discriminatory equity ideology’
Since taking office, the Trump administration:
▪ Dropped Biden era Title IX rules that extended federal education protections to LGBTQ+ students, particularly transgender students.
▪ Signed executive orders removing DEI policies and staff from federal agencies and threatening to withhold federal funding from schools that promote “discriminatory equity ideology.”
▪ The U.S Department of Education notified preschools, K 12 public schools and universities on Feb. 14 that they had until Feb. 28 to remove diversity, equity and inclusion programming or face loss of federal funding.
Democratic State Superintendent Mo Green sent a memo advising North Carolina schools to “avoid overreacting” to the Trump administration’s threat to cut off federal funding unless they end DEI programs.
This story was originally published March 11, 2025 at 5:44 PM.
