The ‘equity leader’ principal and the school board have doubled down on supporting the teacher, but concerned parents are mobilizing
A Republican lawmaker in North Carolina has received death threats after raising concerns about a pentagram-skirt-wearing transgender music teacher who has been hired by an Apex, N.C., elementary school.
“This came to my attention from parents of the kids at the school,” North Carolina state representative Erin Paré told the Washington Free Beacon. “The PTA posted a picture of the teachers at this luncheon, and one of those pictures had this male wearing a dress in it. Then parents started to realize what was going on.”
“I just kind of floated the idea that maybe it’s time to zip up the you know dress code for professional school employees,” Paré said.
The brouhaha took off when an image of newly hired Middle Creek Elementary School music teacher Aria Derrick, previously known as Canon Derrick, began circulating on social media and was shared by the widely viewed Libs of TikTok account.
“Parents weren’t notified. Those who don’t know will find out tonight when they’re blindsided at the teacher Meet and Greet,” said North Carolina conservative influencer Cassie Clark in a July 28 post to X, sharing photos of Derrick—including one in which the teacher wears a skirt adorned with pentagrams. Another showed Derrick, wearing a women’s open shoulder top, sitting at what looks like an elementary school lunch table with children’s art on the wall.
As a newly hired music teacher at Middle Creek Elementary School, Derrick, who sang as a baritone in college, would teach students as young as kindergarten, Paré told the Free Beacon.
“Parents should be able to have access to the education environment most appropriate for their child,” Paré added in a July 27 Facebook post. “I’ll keep you updated. May be time to introduce a bill requiring gender-appropriate professional attire for public school employees, as WCPSS does not have a policy addressing this issue—as far as I can tell.”
Two days later Paré said she woke up to a Facebook message telling her, “I hope you end up kirked”—a reference to the assassination of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk in September.
North Carolina General Assembly chief of police Martin Brock did not respond to a request for comment about the case from the Free Beacon.
Since the controversy erupted, both sides have dug in. During a Tuesday meeting of the Wake County school board—whose members are elected in the increasingly left-leaning county, which includes Raleigh—several board members said they were against enforcing any kind of dress code on teachers.
“Enforcing gender-differentiated clothing requirements based on traditional gender roles constitutes impermissible sex stereotyping under the Constitution,” said board member Chris Heagarty, the Raleigh News & Observer reported.
A second board member, Jennifer Job, blamed the imbroglio on “culture wars,” according to the News & Observer.
But parents are also digging in, forming the group Middle Creek Parental Rights, which had demanded more information about how Derrick was hired.
“Parents shouldn’t have to discover major changes about their children’s education from X, or national media outlets or big questions brought home by confused and vulnerable 5- and 6-year-olds,” said Aaron Driver, a Middle Creek parent.
Derrick was hired into the Middle Creek community by school principal Sarah Stephens, who became principal in February.
Stephens, a she/her-pronoun-slinging, self-described “Champion for Equitable Opportunities,” completed a doctorate in educational leadership in 2025 from the University of North Carolina in reliably liberal Chapel Hill, where she also completed her undergraduate studies, according to her LinkedIn. Her thesis, available online, was titled “Equity-Focused School Improvement.”
In the 293-page, jargon-filled tract, Stephens said she identified as “a White female who identifies as an anti-racist and equity leader.”
“Anti-racist leadership scholars and researchers are concerned with identifying leadership practices that specifically name, critique, and dismantle white supremacy,” she made sure to clarify.
Neither Stephens nor Derrick responded to a request for comment from the Free Beacon.
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