NC Parents Bill of Rights produces ‘concerning’ decline in CMS student health screenings

The number of health screenings conducted for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools students took a steep nosedive last school year after the passage of Senate Bill 49 , Mecklenburg County Health Department data show.

Vision screenings declined 65% among CMS students — from 37,816 in 2022-23 to 13,214 last school year. Dental screenings declined 82% — from 20,253 in 2022-23 to 3,624 last year. Hearing screenings declined by a similar margin following the passage of Senate Bill 49, often called the Parents Bill of Rights. CMS officials are asking state legislators to change the law as a result.

Students typically receive yearly vision screenings in pre-K, kindergarten and grades 1, 3, 5, and 7. Students in pre-K, kindergarten and first grade also typically receive dental screenings and hearing tests.

“Those screenings are often the first indicator that there’s some sort of health issue that may affect learning,” CMS Board of Education Chair Stephanie Sneed told The Charlotte Observer.

Sneed says she started wearing glasses as a child as a result of a vision screening at school.

“There is a very concerning amount of students who are now not receiving the screenings they would typically receive,” Sneed said.

It’s not because parents don’t want their kids to be screened; it’s because the rules changed, Sneed said.

Senate Bill 49 becomes law

Senate Bill 49 became law in Aug. 2023 after the North Carolina General Assembly overrode Governor Roy Cooper’s veto. The law institutes a set of sweeping provisions related to the kind of student information parents in North Carolina have access to.

The controversial statute requires parents to be notified if their child asks to use a different name or pronouns in school as well as prohibits “instruction on gender identity, sexual activity or sexuality,” in kindergarten through fourth grade. The law, however, does not define what counts as that kind of instruction, and both liberal and conservative critics have called for the law to be made less vague.

SB 49 also made it so parents must expressly opt in if they want their children to receive health screenings at school, including routine hearing, vision and dental screenings. Previously, students received such screenings unless parents chose to opt their child out.

The new law meant an onslaught of new forms CMS parents needed to fill out for each student at the beginning of the school year, indicating their child’s name and pronouns as well as opting in for health screenings and sexual education programming, if they desired their children to receive those services.

If parents do not submit forms opting in for health screenings and/or sex ed, students do not receive them by default.

“What I’ve heard from my constituents is it’s not that they have an opposition to their children receiving these types of screenings,” Sneed said. “If they want their kids to receive these screenings, in the past, they haven’t had to sign any forms, so they may not be paying attention to them.”

Since the legislation took effect in August, participation in health screenings as well as sex education plummeted in CMS. Dozens of classes about domestic violence prevention were canceled or postponed in CMS as a result of the law.

Parents Bill of Rights change?

CMS board members and Mecklenburg County public health leaders say the trend is worrying. In May, school board members included changing the provision on their legislative agenda for the North Carolina General Assembly.

Charles Jeter, CMS executive director of government affairs, policy, and board communications, sent an email on June 18 to five Charlotte-area members of the General Assembly requesting the opt-in provision for health screenings be modified during this summer’s legislative session.

“With an opt-in requirement, most parents are not opting in to any screenings and these students are not benefiting from this program,” Jeter wrote in the email later sent to The Observer. “Respectfully, we’re asking y’all to allow an amendment to pass to change dental and vision screenings to an opt-out rule. We believe this request is widely supported.”

So far, the state legislature has not amended the provision. The 2024 short legislative session began Apr. 24 and is scheduled to adjourn July 31. The house and senate are each next set to convene July 29.

“It’s definitely concerning to see a decrease in preventative screening data,” said Kimberly Scott, Mecklenburg County assistant health director. “Having access to these screenings is crucial to academic performance and learning.”

Scott says Mecklenburg County Public Health has taken steps to expand access to its services, including two mobile health units deployed in Charlotte. Its first mobile dental unit will roll out this fall.

“We are still dedicated to ensuring that families have access to appropriate resources,” said Scott. “Public health is still here.”

Sneed says the CMS school board will continue to advocate for the law to change.

“We have to,” Sneed said. “We have to be proactive to make sure we’re putting all the pieces in place to ensure our students are successful.”

In the meantime, the district is focused on communicating with parents to make sure they know about the new requirements.

“We continue to work to improve the communication to parents to ensure families understand the importance of these screenings,” a spokesperson for CMS told The Observer. “All forms will be available in multiple languages.”