A North Carolina state representative responded to an email from a constituent alerting her to the use of LGBTQ-themed flash cards, including a card with the depiction of a pregnant man, to teach colors to preschool children in an elementary school in the Wake County Public School System (WCPSS).
Upon receiving an email containing the flash card that depicted a pregnant man, apparently from “Progress Pride Flag Rainbow Families Flash Cards,” State Representative Erin Paré (R-Wake) contacted the principal at Ballantine Elementary School in Wake County, noted a press release from North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland).
Flash Cards Depicting Pregnant Man Used in WCPSS Preschool Classroom in House District 37 https://t.co/KpnbngXMrv via @ErinforNC #ncpol #ncga
— Speaker Tim Moore (@NCHouseSpeaker) May 27, 2022
Appearing as a guest on Fox News Channel’s Fox & Friends Tuesday, Paré said she called the elementary school principal immediately about the report of the flash cards and found her response “impressive.”
“I asked her some questions, and I said, first, are you aware of this? Number two, do you approve of this? And number three, if you do not approve of this, then what can be done about it?” Paré said. “And she was a little shocked and surprised and kind of said, ‘My school? This is happening in my school?’”
This morning I had the opportunity to be a guest on @FoxNews with @steveforschools to discuss the use of a flash card of a pregnant man to teach colors in a @WCPSS preschool class. Please listen via the link below.#ncpol #ncgahttps://t.co/m8fR4yPm4s
— Erin Paré (@ErinforNC) May 31, 2022
The principal acted swiftly to investigate and verified she found the flash card deck in a preschool classroom and took possession of them, notified the superintendent and human resources,” the state representative explained.
Paré confirmed the flash card deck was not part of “approved curriculum” in the school district.
“I think when you’re looking at a card in front of a preschooler that has a mommy hugging a daddy with a baby in his belly, that’s just not age-appropriate material to be showing preschoolers,” she asserted, and added:
This was a tool that that one individual teacher brought into the classroom, and the principal didn’t know about it, and it was not approved by the district. I think this underscores a greater point that it’s so important for parents to be engaged in what goes on in their child’s classroom, what’s being taught and how things are being taught. And I think that parents are asking for more of that ability.
Moore’s office noted results of a poll released this week that found 57 percent of North Carolina voters support passing legislation that would “make parents the primary decision-makers regarding their child’s health and medical decisions and provide parents with opt-out options regarding controversial surveys or age-inappropriate classroom materials.”
The poll, conducted last week, also found 72.8 percent of North Carolina voters say “things in the United States are headed off on the wrong track, while 21.5 percent say the U.S. is “headed in the right direction.”
“The members of the North Carolina General Assembly are currently reviewing legislation to address this very concern,” Moore’s office noted. “Parents deserve to know exactly what and how their children are being taught.”
Parent Steve Bergstrom, who is running for the school board in Wake County, appeared with Paré on Fox & Friends, and said he is “very tuned in with some of the parents around Wake County that have been fighting these issues.”
He added that while he is appreciative Paré handled this particular concern swiftly, “it shouldn’t take a State House representative to be able to have this issue handled so quickly.”
“This has been going on for quite a while,” Bergstrom observed. “So, it’s, it’s shocking to see always, but it’s not shocking to parents that are here in Wake County.”
Bergstrom referred to “some great parental rights bills that have been passed in other states.”
“I know that North Carolina is doing the same here,” he said. “What parents really want is transparency and they want parental rights. So, parental alienation has got to stop at the school board level. The school board is the one that sets the tone.”
“I think that’s something that voters are gonna go to the polls about this year,” Bergstrom added.
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Susan Berry, PhD, is national education editor at The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Flash Cards” by Tim Moore.
