Can I see the textbooks, handouts, and materials my child is being taught from?

What to do

1. Write to the principal. Ask for your child’s course of study, the supplementary instructional materials in use, and the source of those materials.
2. Cite the law: G.S. 115C-76.35(b)(3) requires the school unit to have a policy for exactly this, and to publish it on the school website.
3. Ask for the written policy itself, by name. The school is required to have one and to make it publicly available, so asking for it is hard to refuse.
4. Note the date you sent it. The principal has 10 business days to respond, or to notify you of an extension delivering no later than 20 business days from your request.
5. If the principal denies the request or does not respond, make the same request to the superintendent, including a statement specifying the time frame of the principal’s denial or failure.
6. If the superintendent does not respond within 10 business days, appeal to the governing body no later than 20 business days from the date of your request to the superintendent — not from your original request to the principal.
7. Know where this ends: a decision of the governing body under this section is final and is not subject to judicial review.
8. If you want to object to a specific item rather than see it, that is a different process with a different ceiling — see below.

What the law requires

§ 115C-76.35(b)(3) requires each public school unit to adopt a policy that does the following:

Establish a procedure for parents to learn about their child’s course of study and the source of any supplementary instructional materials. This procedure shall include the process for parents to inspect and review all textbooks and supplementary instructional materials that will be used in their child’s classroom. The policy shall be available for in-person review by parents at the school site and publicly available on the school’s website.

Note the scope. Not just textbooks but supplementary materials; not just what they are but where they came from; and the policy itself has to be published, which means you can check whether your district has done so.

The same subsection defines what "supplementary instructional materials" covers:

supplementary instructional materials include supplementary textbooks, periodicals, audiovisual materials, and other supplementary materials used for instructional purposes

The deadlines

§ 115C-76.40 puts times on it. The request must be in writing. The principal must respond within 10 business days, or give an extension notice — permitted where the volume or complexity of the request requires it — delivering no later than 20 business days from the date of the request.

If that fails, the request goes to the superintendent, along with a statement specifying the time frame of the principal’s denial or failure. The superintendent has 10 business days. After that you may appeal to the governing body no later than 20 business days from the date of the request to the superintendent, and the appeal goes on the agenda of the next meeting occurring more than three business days after you submit it.

Write the dates down when you send the request. A deadline you cannot evidence is not a deadline.

One limit worth knowing before you rely on this route:

A decision of a governing body under this section is final and is not subject to judicial review.

Objecting is a different process, with a different ceiling

Inspecting materials and objecting to them are separate things. § 115C-76.35(b)(4) requires each unit to establish a means for parents to object to textbooks and supplementary instructional materials, consistent with G.S. 115C-98. But be clear-eyed about what that section says:

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.

And on who decides an objection:

The local board, at all times, has sole authority and discretion to determine whether a challenge has merit and whether challenged material should be retained or removed.

A board may establish a community media advisory committee to investigate and evaluate challenges, but § 115C-98 says "may" rather than "shall", sets no timeline, and provides no appeal. Objecting puts your concern formally on the record. It does not oblige anyone to remove anything. Knowing that going in is better than discovering it afterward.