Two Years and No History and Civics Curriculum in Beaufort County Schools? | Eastern NC Now

Two Years and No History and Civics Curriculum in Beaufort County Schools?

Beaufort Observer Editorial Team

As reported by Dr. Norris Parker, Chief Academic Officer, during the February 2025 school board meeting, the teachers and students do not have a social studies and civics curriculum in Beaufort County, NC schools.

He was then asked for an update from the Curriculum Committee as required by the recently updated Policy Code 3100 - Curriculum Development.  He reported the curriculum committee was working on selecting a science curriculum but had nothing to report at this time.  When pressed by board members as to why the curriculum committee could not work on two curriculums at the same time, he said that was not possible as curriculum selection required two to three years to select and implement a new curriculum.

There was an attempt made in 2023 to purchase a canned social studies curriculum, but parents and citizens objected to the Critical Race Theory and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion principles embedded in the course work.  Seeing this objection, Superintendent Dr. Matthew Cheeseman pulled the SAVVAS curriculum from consideration by the school board.  President Trump, by executive order, has ordered all Critical Race Theory and Diversity, Equity. and Inclusion principles be eliminated from all public schools funded by the federal agencies.  Efforts are currently underway to eliminate and shut down the federal Department of Education.

So, as Dr. Parker responded, it is not possible to review two curriculums concurrently. The review committees reviewing science and civics should be composed of different teaching disciplines.  Why is it that five-six science teachers and five-six civics teachers cannot review two curriculums at the same time?

If the BCS are working on a science curriculum, why can’t they issue a progress report to the board as required by the school board policy 3100?

Recently, some board members have been researching the Hillsdale College History and Civics curriculum.  When this was mentioned during a school board meeting, there was immediate push back from entrenched board members reporting that Hillsdale is not approved by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.  Well, so what?  The NC DPI is not responsible or accountable for curriculum development and selection. They are responsible for setting standards for retention, promotion, and graduation.  They do have recommended curriculums and suppliers of those curriculums, but they cannot force any public school in North Carolina to purchase and utilize them.  See NCGS 115C-98.  This is the verbatim language from this statute.

§ 115C‑98.  Local boards of education to provide for local operation of the textbook program, the selection and procurement of other instructional materials, and the use of nonadopted (sic) textbooks.

(a) Local boards of education shall adopt rules not inconsistent with the policies of the State Board of Education concerning the local operation of the textbook program.

(b) Local boards of education shall adopt written policies concerning the procedures to be followed in their local school administrative units for the selection and procurement of supplementary textbooks, library books, periodicals, audiovisual materials, and other supplementary instructional materials needed for instructional purposes in the public schools of their units.

Local boards of education shall have sole authority to select and procure supplementary instructional materials, whether or not the materials contain commercial advertising, to determine if the materials are related to and within the limits of the prescribed curriculum, and to determine when the materials may be presented to students during the school day.

Supplementary materials and contracts for supplementary materials are not subject to approval by the State Board of Education.

This statue is plainly written.  Local school boards in North Carolina can choose any curriculum and supplemental material that meets the NC DPI standards for instruction that promotes the advancements of students to higher grades and graduation in public, charter, or private schools.

Why the objections?  Primarily it’s because Hillsdale College is a school heavily influenced by Christian values, principles, and the US Constitution.  The fact that Hillsdale is not supported by any government taxes and is not controlled by federal, state, or local governments, it must be bad if not under government guidance and censorship.  The Hillsdale College curriculums are free of costs to any school system that chooses to utilize the courses.  Anyone interested can download the History and Civics curriculum from their website.  Some textbooks have to be purchased, but the cost of textbooks is nowhere near the costs of $300,000 to $450,000 for curriculums supplied by other suppliers of canned courses.

There are choices available to local school boards.  Elected school boards just need to have the courage to utilize them.  Here are two that should be considered for adoption.

https://littlepatriotslearning.com/ - Kindergarten – 5th grade

https://k12.hillsdale.edu/Curriculum/Hillsdale-K12-American-History/

Students must understand the hardships the founders of the United States endured to bring forth this great and free nation and why the United States and its three equal branches of government stands apart from the dictatorial governments in other nations.  Students must be taught that they are the government as denoted in the first words of the US Constitution, ‘We the People of the United States…’

Local school boards in NC have too long been led to believe that the NC DPI controls curricula.  It is time to destroy this belief.  All that is required is a majority vote of the local school board to adopt a new direction.  The young people in this country attending public schools deserve no less.