COLUMBIA, S.C. – Following calls and letters from concerned parents in the Charleston County School District, Governor Henry McMaster wrote a letter to the chairman of the district’s board of trustees calling on the district to restore and prioritize parental involvement in the classroom by prohibiting instructional materials on gender identity from being distributed or utilized without parents’ knowledge and consent. 

“I have enclosed an example of one parent’s recent correspondence with my office, which includes additional details and context regarding this matter and the corresponding parental shock and concern,” the governor wrote in his letter to the board. “According to the enclosed letter, students were also assigned questions to answer based on their reading. I have not received a copy of any questions or other materials provided to children; however, I am told CCSD has thus far refused to provide this documentation to parents upon request.”

The governor continued: “Parents know what is best for their children, and that includes whether, when, or how to address topics like those raised in the article. If parents decide to introduce their children to the ideas discussed in this article, then it is in their sole discretion to do so, at a time (or age) and in the way they deem appropriate. It certainly should not be done by a public-school teacher without parents’ knowledge.”

A copy of the governor’s letter, along with a copy of the assignment and a copy of one parent’s letter to the governor can be found here.

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