A provision in North Carolina's 2026 state budget overhauls how school districts handle challenges to library and instructional materials. The change replaces the former school-level review process with a single districtwide committee, allows any county resident to file objections, and makes a local school board's decision binding across the entire district. Prior law left the creation of such committees to each board's discretion.
What the new law requires
Under the budget legislation, every local school board must establish a community media advisory committee to review challenges. The committee must include three principals (one each from elementary, middle, and high school), three teachers (one each from the same levels), three school library media coordinators (one each from elementary, middle, and high school), and two parents (one of a high school or middle school student and one of an elementary school student).
The law specifies that challenges must claim materials are obscene, inappropriate to the age, maturity, or grade level of the students, or, for instructional materials, not aligned with the standard course of study. The committee makes a recommendation to the local board of education, which has final authority. The committee must hold a hearing within two weeks of a challenge and make a recommendation within two weeks after that hearing. School board decisions on challenged materials cannot be appealed.
Key changes from prior law
The budget provision modifies G.S. 115C-98(b1), which previously stated that a local board of education "may establish a community media advisory committee" to investigate and evaluate challenges from parents, teachers, and members of the public. The new language changes the permissive "may" to the mandatory "shall." It also expands the pool of eligible challengers. Any county resident can now file an objection, even if they do not have a student enrolled in the district. Prior law restricted challenges to parents or guardians.
The new system also removes school-level review. Previously, if a book was challenged at one school, the decision applied only to that school. Under the new law, the board's decision applies districtwide.
Local district response
Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools is among the districts now revising its policies to comply. In January 2024, the district's board approved a revised policy that limited formal objections to books and materials to students and parents or guardians of enrolled students. The new state law supersedes that local restriction, according to a WUNC report. The district's chief academic officer, Paula Wilkins, recently explained that committee members may rotate throughout the year to avoid burnout. The district has had only one formal challenge in the last four years.
Broader budget changes
The budget also phases out the Textbook Commission and updates language throughout state law to refer to "instructional materials." The new definition includes not only books but also digital resources, classroom kits, and activity-oriented programs.