Children's Books discussion
Banned Books: discussions, lists
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Discussion of censorship, equity, and other concerns.
Same thing happening in Johnston County, North Carolina. Disgusting and sickening. Not to mention very scary.______________________________
Johnston County could remove any books with LGBTQ content from elementary school libraries because of North Carolina’s new Parents’ Bill of Rights law.
The law’s requirements include prohibiting instruction on gender identity, sexual activity or sexuality in the curriculum in kindergarten through fourth-grade classrooms.
In response, the Johnston County school board gave initial approval this week to an updated parental involvement policy that would apply the law to books in elementary school libraries. The district plans to review all books in elementary school libraries to see whether they discuss gender identity, sexual activity or sexuality.
“The revised draft of Board Policy 1310/4002 Parental Involvement requires Johnston County Public Schools to review and evaluate all supplementary materials for students in kindergarten through grade five to ensure compliance with the Parents’ Bill of Rights,” Richard Carr, a district spokesperson, said in an email. “The draft is a first read to allow opportunity for stakeholder input.
“After a final version of the policy is approved by the Board, the administration will develop next steps to comply with the policy and law.”
The updated policy would go beyond the state law’s requirements by also including fifth grade. School board members said this would avoid the need to create a separate section in school libraries just for fifth-grade students.
“There’s a section on there (parental involvement policy) that talks about K-4 materials that are not allowed and that would also include media center books of sexual orientation, sexual identity, a long list of things,” said school board vice chair Terry Tippett, who also chairs the policy committee. “This is added.
“What the (policy) committee has done at this point in time is make that K-5 because otherwise what you will have to do is have a special section in your elementary school media center for fifth grade only so therefore we’re looking at K-5.”
The school board is expected to give final approval to the updated policy in November.
Not every North Carolina school district is interpreting the law the same way.
The Wake County school system’s attorneys have not advised the district to remove any books from libraries due to the new law, according to Sara Clark, a district spokesperson. Wake and Johnston use different legal firms.
The Campaign For Southern Equality released a legal memo on Monday accusing the new state law of violating the federal Title IX law by creating a hostile educational environment for LGBTQ+ students. The Asheville-based group urged school districts to delay implementation of the new state law.
“The law prohibits critical instruction by forbidding students, including those who are part of LGBTQ families, from learning about or even seeing examples of role models or families who are not straight and cisgender, or who, like Amelia Earhart, are remarkable in part because of their gender identity,” according to the memo.
Tippett said the new state law overrides Johnston County’s current three-prong guidelines for considering challenges of books in school libraries. He said this means elementary schools will now have “quite a task” reviewing books.
But Tippett said the policy committee has not yet developed the procedures that elementary schools will use.
“The policy part is the easy part,” Tippett said at this week’s board meeting. “When I say easy, I mean we’ve got guidelines we have to follow. The actual administration of those things is what we’re going to have to look at.”
https://www.aol.com/crowds-rally-behi...
Outraged at Scholastic’s Option to Opt in—or Out—of Receiving Diverse Books, Librarians Seek Book Fair AlternativesAmanda Jones has hosted Scholastic Book Fairs in her Louisiana school library for nine years. There will not be a 10th.
“I was so disappointed in Scholastic this year and canceled my fair for next year,” says Jones, a Louisiana middle school librarian and 2021 School Librarian of the Year. “When I had my book fair meeting with my rep, she told me that I could opt in for a ‘Share Every Story’ case of diverse authors and characters. I said absolutely I was opting in. Then she asked me again if I was sure, and I said the same thing. In all fairness, my rep is wonderful and knows all I’ve faced in the past year, so I think she was just looking out for me. But still.”
Share Every Story, Celebrate Every Voice is a new set of books offered by Scholastic Book Fairs, framed by the company as an “add-on,” which librarians can choose to receive to stock their book fair—or decline.
Jones—who has been battling harassers in court after speaking out for the freedom to read at a public library hearing—is one of many librarians upset with Scholastic.
Several went to social media to recount their own conversations with Scholastic representatives. Educators say the reps asked repeatedly if they were sure they wanted to include the case. Having to opt-in to a separate, additional case with these titles was bad enough for many of the librarians. To be pushed to confirm that they really wanted it was more disconcerting.
The final straw for many was a paper attached to the case when it arrived that said, “We’ve included the requested ‘Share Every Story, Celebrate Every Voice’ collection with your Book Fair assortment. If you believe this was received in error, please set it aside for your school’s Fair pickup. If you have any additional questions or concerns, please reach out to your Fair consultant.”
Jones works at Live Oak Middle School in Denham Springs, LA, but has always ordered the elementary fair because there are fifth and sixth graders in her school, she says. Jones then adds on more middle grade titles.
“I noticed several standard books that we’ve had previously, like The Undefeated and Drama [by Raina Telegemier], were missing,” says Jones. “It’s not as if the ‘regular’ cases didn’t have any Black or LGBTQ+ authors, but there was a marked difference in variety and diversity, in my opinion.”
SLJ asked a Scholastic spokesperson how the titles were selected for the Share Every Story case and received this response:
“LGBTQIA+ and racism are the most legislated themes in the states with enacted or pending laws. To create the Share Every Story, Celebrate Every Voice collection, Scholastic began with titles we support even as they are the most likely to be restricted,” the spokesperson said via email. “Also, this collection provided additional space at a fair for even more diverse titles that while they may not have content that is named in legislation, do increase the diversity available at a fair. For instance, we reintroduced backlist titles to extend the typical length of time a title is available at a Fair.”
Questions about what the representatives have been instructed to ask, the consequence of “othering” these titles by separating them, who made the decisions as to what goes in the "Share Every Story" case, and why the "diverse" titles the company says remain in the regular offering wouldn’t leave those who run the fairs similarly vulnerable to professional or legal consequences went unanswered.
Jones chose a more limited add-on: three boxes of Share Every Story titles, instead of the full case. She was surprised by what she found when they arrived.
“The Share Every Story boxes I received weren’t anything controversial or any books that would put librarians in jeopardy of breaking these absurd new laws I’ve been keeping track of in other states, so I guess I’m just confused about why we had to opt in for them,” she says. “And all of the opt-in books seemed to be by authors of color or with characters of color. The feeling I got from Scholastic was that Black authors are controversial and need to be separated. The message that sent to me was one I do not want to be associated with in any way and is harmful.
One media specialist said she was asked to assess the Share Every Story books before volunteers would display them. Like Jones, she was surprised by the titles in the case.
“Our PTA runs the book fair and they asked me to take a look at the books before they put them out,” tweeted Stacey Flynn, media specialist at Great Seneca Elementary School in Germantown, MD. “So shocked to see what was considered ‘controversial.’ What??????? Just people of color, just like our student population.”
Outrage from the library and publishing world flowed on social media, where people sought to find alternatives to Scholastic Book Fairs.
Outraged authors
Jacqueline Woodson
Angie Thomas
David Bowles
"This cowardly stance is indefensible," wrote author David Bowles. "You are facilitating the silencing of Latino and other BIPOC voices when they are needed most. Where is the literary dignity in placating religious fascists? #DignidadLiteraria"
Wrote Tracy O'Connell Novick, a member of the Worcester (MA) School Committee, "You don’t have only two options: the third option is to refuse to bowdlerization your book collection, and to use your power as the major children’s publisher to push back on legislative efforts to limit children’s access to stories they need to see.
"This is extraordinarily gutless, frankly. The librarians, teachers, and parents for whom you claim to be watching out for are putting their own safety and positions on the line in many cases to take actions to fight these efforts. You should be backing them up.”
PEN America released a statement calling on Scholastic to find a different solution: https://pen.org/press-release/scholas...
https://www.slj.com/story/Outraged-at...
The books from the Share Every Story case
https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/We...
Lovely letter to the editor from OregonBook bans don’t protect students
https://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/20...
I agree with her 1000%.
Surprisingly Puritanical Connecticut parents, advocates protest Moms for Liberty meeting in CTProtestors clad in prideful rainbows crowded outside the Avon Senior Center on Saturday afternoon to hand out free copies of banned books and rally against Moms for Liberty, a conservative political organization group “]that was meeting at the center.
On Saturday, many local parents who came out to protest said they were shocked that the group was gathering in Avon.
“When you read about things like Moms for Liberty you think more about red states, not in your backyard,” said Amber Paige Gehr, a mother from Bristol.
She said her 9-year-old son, who is on the autism spectrum, has been worried that his favorite books will be banned.
Dana Barcellos-Allen of Avon said she and her wife Kerry Barcellos-Allen are worried their 4-year-old son Cooper will grow up without books that reflect his own family.
“I am a new-ish parent and he loves books and he has a two-mom family,” said Dana Barcellos-Allen. “We’re talking about books that would really impact my son’s family, my son’s perception. And I don’t want my son to be affected because he has a ‘different’ kind of family. I think most families are ‘different’ nowadays.”
The Barcellos-Allen family moved to Avon from the San Francisco Bay Area eight years ago and purposely chose the Avon community. She doesn’t want her son to grow up in a place that stigmatizes his family.
“We moved to Avon because it was a lovely, accepting place,” she said. And they want it to stay that way for their son.
“He loves his mommies, and our friends and community love us and our family, and I don’t want to see that jeopardized,” she said. “I want there to be (a) conversation with love and kindness and inclusion as opposed to anything that involves shame.”
Standing by her side, another mom said that she raised three children in Avon, including two who are gay.
Holding a sign that said “Not here in Avon,” Nathalie Caso said, “I’m tired of hate messages.”
“I have two gay children and I want to be able to choose what I teach my kids. I don’t want other people to tell me how I can and cannot parent,” Caso said. “This is a fabulous school system, but there’s just no place for bigotry here.”
Russell Caudill, who has a 16-month-old daughter, stood outside the Avon Senior Center on Saturday holding a tall sign that said, in bold red letters, “Hate group meeting here today.”
“This feels so close to home and that feels really scary,” he said.
Caudill said he came out to protest to “start using (his) voice” now that he is a parent, and to raise awareness about what Moms for Liberty stands for. Caudill said he worried that community members may not understand the intent behind the group.
“Moms for Liberty is a very friendly or patriotic slogan or name, somebody may stumble into it and not know what it is,” he said.
Caudill said the group is known to be anti-LGBTQ and divisive, and that he wants to live in a community that supports and celebrates everyone.
“Those aren’t things that I want here, I want us all to get along and send our kids to the same school and be happy,” Claudia said.
Saturday’s protest involved multiple local groups that advocate against hate, book bans and bigotry. Erin Barthel, a pediatric oncologist at Connecticut Children’s Hospital and a volunteer with a local chapter of gun violence prevention group Moms Demand Action, attended the rally with her husband and their three young children.
Barthel said protesting against groups like Moms for Liberty is directly aligned with the work she does to prevent violence and promote healthy communities.
“It’s 100% in line with what we do for Moms Demand Action. When you have a group in town that’s feeling persecuted, then you are creating hate in our town,” she said. “Hate starts here. It started with meetings like this and you have to show up now, and you have to stop the hate now because it escalates into violence.”
Barthel, who was recently elected to the Avon Town Council as a Democrat and is running for re-election, said that town Democrats were concerned when they learned about the meeting.
“We just don’t tolerate this in our town,” she said. “We want everyone to feel welcome, all kids to feel welcome in our schools. We want all families who move here to feel welcome.”
That means supporting everyone, she said, including teachers and librarians who need protection from book bans and kids and teens by “making sure they have access to a diverse range of books and are being taught the whole spectrum of history.”
The Moms for Liberty event in Avon was advertised as: “Symposium on parental rights — what’s the controversy?”
In addition to Avon residents, town leaders and advocacy groups that came out to rally on Saturday, Moms for Liberty have spawned a counter-group called STOP Moms for Liberty.
Kamora Herrington, founder of Kamora’s Cultural Corner in Hartford, helped organize the banned book table, giving out free children’s and adult’s books that are on the banned book lists, ranging from “To Kill a Mockingbird” to “Where the Wild Things Are.”
The book table was brought to the event to counter Moms for Liberty’s movement, said Herrington, “because they’re trying to shut down the exchange of information.”
Lea Dantz, who helped give out free books, said that the banned book table was the result of a community effort to exchange books that “show representation of freedom and expression of life and make sure they were accessible.”
Herrington said that by coming together to celebrate their diversity, she hopes they are “reminding the community of who they are, not who they are against.”
Their goal, she said, is not to “create people who agree with us but to create people who can do the hardworking of how to live together.”
Ahead of Saturday’s event, the Avon Democrats issued a statement saying that they “strongly denounce any organization that serves to demonize, dehumanize and erase entire groups of people.”
“We denounce efforts to remove books from libraries, topics from curricula, events and individuals from history lessons and diverse voices from conversations. And we denounce the intimidation our educators, librarians and school administrators are experiencing across Connecticut and the nation because a tiny cross-section of the population is resurrecting ‘purity’ agendas as a tactic to push vulnerable groups into the margins of society,” the group said in a statement on Facebook.
https://www.courant.com/2023/10/21/th...
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How sad for the boy with autism! He shouldn't have to worry about that. I'm sure he has enough anxiety as is.
In Penn. Nazareth Area School Board to decide whether to remove Push from high school libraryhttps://www.lehighvalleylive.com/news...
In the Finger Lakes region of New YorkLegal battle erupts over books in Clyde-Savannah school library
The Clyde-Savannah Central School District faces intensifying tensions over a decision to keep five contested books in its Junior/Senior High School library.
The Finger Lakes Times has reported extensively on the debate this year.
Last month, the school board voted to retain the books, previously labeled as p____aphic by Jacob Marchitell, a local pastor. Marchitell’s confrontational behavior at the vote led to a year-long ban from school premises, as deemed by Superintendent Mike Hayden.
Now, backed by the Wayne County Moms for Liberty group, Marchitell has enlisted the services of the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) to appeal the board’s decision to the state’s education commissioner, Betty Rosa.
The ACLJ, known for championing socially conservative causes, aims to nullify the school board’s September 13 decision, according to the Times reporting.
On the other hand, a group opposing the book removal, named Call to Action, emphasizes the significance of diverse literature for students.
https://www.fingerlakes1.com/2023/10/...
In Florida, Book-banning legislation would cause a riot in Ybor CityHistory of Book Banning in Ybor City
Cameron McNabb, visiting assistant professor of literature, has family ties to Ybor City. She spoke about that community’s deep connection with literature for education and entertainment purposes at a recent presentation at the Tampa Bay History Center.
“We are still debating what content is appropriate for which audiences today and looking at the past can tell us something about our present,” McNabb said.
Books were fought over in the factories, sometimes to the death, for the choice of book and its content. Historians are not certain about the content of the books being read, but the removal of the books caused labor unions and worker strikes as a result of taking away their connection to learning and connecting with the world around them that they would not have experienced otherwise.
The residents of Ybor City relied on books and often rioted when books were questioned. Today, the state of Florida leads the country in book-banning legislation with the highest number of banned books. Writers and educators are using social media platforms to advocate for reading and talking about banned books.
http://www.theonlinecurrent.com/news/...
A report on the House of Reps hearing on book bans. As you would expect, The hearing of the subcommittee on elementary and secondary education reflected similar debates playing out in school board hearings across the country, where proponents of book bans often point to sexual content to make their point.Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.), the committee’s ranking member, reminded the witnesses, all but one whom supported book bans, of the setting for Thursday’s discussion.
“I’ll note that this is the U.S. Congress and not a school board meeting,” she said.
She said censorship laws are “being enacted by extreme MAGA politicians under the pretext of parental rights.”
However, Democrats on the committee were unmoved. Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) said “the erosion of [the] public institution” is happening in part because of those “trying to control what people read and don’t read” and called book banning “a huge threat to public education.”
The lone witness opposed to book bans at libraries was Jonathan Friedman, the director of free expression and education programs for PEN America, a nonprofit organization that focuses on free speech issues as they relate to literature.
“We can — and we must — distinguish between a parent raising a particular concern to a school official, and a well-organized campaign to mobilize people to disrupt public education writ large,” Friedman said.
Megan Degenfelder, the superintendent of Public Instruction for Wyoming’s Department of Education, said that while she agrees that there is inappropriate content in American school libraries, she does not think it is up to the federal government to solve this issue.
“So how do we solve this issue,” Degenfelder asked of inappropriate books in schools. “It certainly should not be up to the federal government. I respect local control in government. Education is no exception, so I respect the duly elected school board authority over books and curriculum.”
Before the hearing adjourned, Bonamici urged her colleagues to refocus their attention on other pressing education issues.
“We need to continue this conversation, but we also need to get back to doing what’s best for children,” she said. “Let’s talk about the schools where they don’t even have a library.”
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/42...
And in Nigeria, where the government does ban booksHouse Of Reps Ask FG To Ban Popular Children Textbook, Queen Primer
The lawmakers asked the federal, state and local governments to ban the book because it contains words like “gay”, “eros” and others considered to be “offensive.”
The call for the ban followed the adoption of a motion moved by Sulaiman Gumi (PDP, Zamfara) on Thursday during plenary.
Same old same old...
https://www.gistmania.com/talk/topic,...
Mod
Honestly, this is really really good news, and I am glad that Ontario NDP leader Marit Stiles did the right thing and booted this "person" from the caucus. Stiles gave Sarah Jama a lot of chances to apologise for her inflammatory comments and to make amends, but Jama like a stubborn and tantrum prone child just acted more and more impossibly, so yes, having her kicked out of the caucus, out of the NDP, was the only correct and also the required and necessary thing to do.
And furthermore, considering that Sarah Jama was actually often loudly and stridently uttering anti semitic comments and exhibiting overtly anti semitic behaviour even before she was voted in in Hamilton Centre this summer (and so much so that I generally had to press the mute button when she was mouthing off on TV), sorry, but those who voted for Sarah Jama are in my opinion massively naive at best and kind of now also totally and richly deserve to have a member of the provincial legislature being forced to sit as an independent and not having any voice at all.
I mean just because Sarah Jama is pro union, Socialist, and a feminist with physical challenges does not mean that she should automatically be supported by someone who is left of centre (and sadly, some of her supporters seemingly are of that mindset). And there certainly in my opinion seems to be the attitude out there (for some and by some NDPers) that it is alright for Sarah Jama to be anti Semitic but if you dare call her out for this, you are of course not really legitimately being critical, but a racist, a misogynist and against individuals with physical challenges.
A breakdown of books banned in Utah's biggest school districtsThe Salt Lake Tribune compiled a list of 262 books removed across 17 school districts. One literature professor asks: “What are we going to be left with?
Most of the titles they have flagged focus on race or the LGBTQ community. They have repeatedly challenged the same books, including “The Bluest Eye” by Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison and “Gender Queer,” a graphic novel about the author’s journey of self-identity.
The books they disapprove of — and that have been removed the most — are award winners and New York Times bestsellers. They include poetry compilations and fantasy novels.
Lauren Liang, an associate professor at the University of Utah who studies censorship in literature for children and young adults, said she worries many of the requests are based on keywords or select scenes, without the challenger reading the full book or looking at the context for why those scenes matter.
The reasons most often listed by school districts for removing books seem to align with that: “Sexual content.” “Violence.” “Illicit description of sex.”
“If you just go after keywords, you lose all these books,” Liang said. “What are we going to be left with?”
[Shame on Catherine Bates! You call yourself a librarian?]
Catherine Bates, the former librarian at Brighton High School, said she’s not surprised Sarah J. Maas’ fantasy books take up five of the top 11 spots for banned books in Utah schools. She actually removed some of those titles herself, when she did reviews of her school library in Canyons School District.
Bates said she’d look at scenes, like in Maas’ books, that depicted something sensitive — such as sex. If she found that was only in the book for “prurient interests,” which is a federal standard for school libraries, she’d remove it.
Maas’ books — which are actually described as adult novels — fit that description, she felt.
For other commonly banned authors, she said, it was harder for her to make the decision. For example, “Tricks” by Ellen Hopkins — who is one of the top removed authors in Utah — includes content about sex trafficking. Bates said that’s not about the prurient interest, so it’s not as clear.
“It’s not in the same realm as a romance novel but was so graphic,” she said.
She had the same stress over “Oryx and Crake” by Margaret Atwood and decided to sit out the review process for that. She felt “too close” to it to be unbiased, she said, having read it multiple times herself and given the book to many students.
As a high school librarian, the students who came to her ranged from 14 years old to 18, which made it a challenge, too.
“Do I think an 18-year-old can handle ‘Oryx and Crake’? 100%,” she said. “Would I give it to a 14-year-old? No, absolutely not.”
The frequent book challenges “made my life much harder and more stressful,” she said, and were part of what led her to leave her job at the end of the 2022-23 school year, after a decade working for Brighton High.
It’s difficult for her to think about the materials she ended up removing from the school’s library, she said, because of how much she “wrestled” with the decisions. Such experiences were leaving her questioning her own competency.
“I’d been a librarian for 10 years and buying books for 10 years and giving books to kids for 10 years and reading 60 to 100 young adult books a year,” she said. “I still felt very unsure about the choices I was making.”
Handfuls of new challenges would be delivered to her every Friday. “It is deeply jarring to get a call from your principal to talk about taking books out of your library,” Bates added.
As a librarian, she said: “I feel like we are the protectors, and we’re the canaries in the coal mine, and the weight of that is hard to bear. … I felt like I was the person protecting my students’ freedom of speech, and that’s a big deal.”
All five of the most banned authors are women.
Liang, the University of Utah associate professor, said what stands out to her is that three of those female authors — Ellen Hopkins, Elana K. Arnold and Lauren Myracle — write about coming of age experiences for young adults, particularly girls.
A lot of those experiences are traumatic, Liang noted, but they’re real and show the “sadness and the gritty reality of the world.” That includes kids who are sexually abused or have a parent who is addicted to drugs, for instance.
“When those things are in books, they are real things,” she said. “We don’t like to think about the number of kids who experience these things, but they’re here and they do. When the books are shut down, what message are you sending to the kids who have experienced that?”
For those teens, she said, the books are validating and somewhere they can see themselves reflected. And for those who haven’t gone through those things, readers can gain empathy or learn warning signs.
Liang also says there’s a reason that young adult authors include a graphic scene in their work. It’s not gratuitous. “The whole point of the book is that this is not an OK thing,” she said.
In almost all young adult books, Liang said, the point is to show how the character overcomes something horrific like that — often turning to a trusted adult for help.
“They persevere and succeed,” she said. “It’s about hope.”
The books are a model for survival and without them, she feels, kids are losing an example of how to get through something challenging.
She feels when Utah parents just look at those scenes and cite the p______hy law to get rid of them, they’re “not using that term in a way that is appropriate to the access that they’re denying.” The point of p____hy, she said, is different (view spoiler)
That’s not what authors like Hopkins are doing.
Crank is based on Hopkins's daughter's story of going from Straight-A student to struggling with drug addiction. The things that happen in the book happened to her daughter.
“Every kid’s life isn’t pretty,” Hopkins said. “We can’t just take the ugliness out of the libraries. You need to see it. … And all of my books show them there is always a way out.”
She also provides a list of resources in all of her books. And — what might surprise many parents challenging her titles — there’s also a reference to Christianity in every book. Hopkins grew up in the Lutheran faith and incorporates that into all of her literature.
After every book reading or book signing, Hopkins said, she has a kid or two or three come up to her to share their experience and to thank her for highlighting real traumas. They tell her they feel seen.
Alpine School District — the No. 4 district on the list and the biggest district in the state — made headlines for pulling 52 books to review. Of those in that one challenge from one parent, it removed 22 titles. Overall, it has taken 41 books off the shelf across its schools.
“Our process is tested, sound and fair,” said Vallen Thomas, who oversees the material review process for the district. He said the district has also conducted its own audit of the books it provides access to.
Liang is co-director of the READ-U program at the U. that works with teachers on selecting books for their classes that highlight empathy, awareness and diversity. Many, she said, are now self-censoring and worry about each title they pick. Instead of picking what they consider the best of the best books, she said, they’re trying to find ones that don’t mention any sensitive topic.
https://www.sltrib.com/news/education...
Adriana E. Ramírez: Librarians and other educators tell their stories from the culture war frontlineshttps://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/...
Amanda GormanYouth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman blasts Scholastic segregation of books by queer and BIPOC authors
https://www.thepinknews.com/2023/10/2...
Lots of drama todayIn Hampshire, Illinois The Prom musical Saundra Mitchell The Prom: A Novel Based on the Hit Broadway Musical has been cancelled due to "safety concerns." I saw the movie. It was silly and innocuous. One girl wants to take her gf to the prom but gf's mom, president of the PTA, is homophobic and gf is doing her best to be the person her mom wants her to be. A bunch of has-been Broadway performers find out about the drama and show up in support of the girl. That's it as far as the Netflix movie goes.
Literary Activism reports
https://literaryactivism.substack.com...
"On October 20, during a meeting held between school administration, the Hampshire High School theater department, and the student body, District 300 superintendent Dr. Susan Harkin and Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Adrian Harries, informed everyone that the district would not be allowing the production to happen. The conversation began a month earlier, as there were rumblings within the theater department that administrators were nervous about the show, and students responded by writing letters, hoping to set the administration at ease.
The administrators weren't even initially planning to talk with the students about the play's cancelation. The decision happened on Wednesday, between district administrators and school staff. It was not made by anyone in the Hampshire High School facility, nor anyone on the District 300 School Board.
District administrators were not prepared for the Friday meeting with the students. For over two hours, the kids spoke out, sharing personal stories with conviction and poise. The decision remained in place, and District 300 administration did not post anything to the school website about it until students, parents, and other community members began to share what happened on social media.
"The initial decision to postpone the musical was unrelated to Hampshire High School students or their desire to demonstrate their school's progress toward supporting the LGBTQ+ community," explained the district in a press release posted to their website several days after the decision was made. "Instead, the postponement reflected a concern held by our administrative team that the larger District 300 community may not be prepared to fully support this performance without risking potential harassment, bullying, and violence targeting our LGBTQ+ students, performers, staff, or community members."
In other words, because the district administration perceived potential backlash about the performance of an LGBT+ play, they elected to cancel the production. It is also an interesting shift from the play being canceled to being "postponed." ... But more, it dodges the questions raised by HHS staff about what they could do to ensure that everyone would feel safe performing and attending the production come spring.
"At the meeting, HHS students came prepared and many spoke passionately and respectfully in effort to educate Harkin and Harries about the massive repercussions of their decision to prohibit HHS’ performance of ‘The Prom,' explained on student via email, who because of her age, will remain anonymous. "Harkin and Harries made the decision based solely on the possibility of violent backlash from the community, and reiterated several times throughout the meeting that they “are afraid they wouldn’t be able to keep their students safe” from targeting by community members as a result of the musical."
She continued, "Harries and Harkin insisted that it wasn’t the content of the musical they were concerned about, but went on to say that the “nature of the performance” is the reason the community of Hampshire “isn’t ready to receive a performance like The Prom.” Harkin described the opposition as “vicious” and that “Hampshire has a lot of work to do,” but the pair avoided directly answering questions from students like “What does the administration think should be done (in regards to controlling backlash)?”
This same sentiment is woven throughout the District's press release: "Unfortunately, there has been a rise in harassment, bullying, threats, and violence directed toward the LGBTQ+ community, locally and nationally. In District 300, we have experienced community members seeking to “out” students involved in our Gay Straight Alliance (GSA). We have received numerous hate-filled emails regarding the district’s Day of Silence. Last month, the district received threats and inappropriate comments from community members related to our LGBTQ+ Learning Space meeting held at a District 300 school. Additionally, we have seen harassment targeting the LGBTQ+ populations in our communities. "
The district administration claims the decision to "postpone" the play is to protect its LGBTQ+ community, but it not only has the opposite effect, it raises far more questions than can be answered.
"[i]t was made obvious to the community of Hampshire and beyond that D300 higher administration is tolerant of the bigotry and hate of a minority group in Hampshire and our district as a whole. Their reasoning has shown us that they believe the underrepresented lives and stories of LGBTQ+ students are not worth telling, and certainly not worth the effort of protecting," said a student. "Instead of using the performance of The Prom to provide visibility for queer students in our community, showcase the reality of living as a queer high school student, and start to change the stereotype of the town of Hampshire, Dr. Susan Harkin and Mr. Adrian Harries made it abundantly clear that they would rather rely on harmful hypotheticals to appease hate and hide behind their performative activism."
There is also a change.org petition to reinstate the show at the school. One Hampshire High School staff member also suggested that one way to continue showing support for these teens is to embrace those within your own community. Remind them that bigotry does not have a place anytime or anywhere–and today's teens are indeed the ones continuing to say this.
"[S]tudents, parents, and community members have been relentless on social media advocating for our right to perform The Prom," said a student who reached out. "We have caught the attention of cast members and the author of The Prom on social media and do not want to stop there. We need your help!"
South CarolinaGreenville County library board approves new display policy
After months of controversy, the board voted 6 to 4 in favor of an amended policy for what can be displayed in the county’s public libraries. One board member abstained from voting.
In June, the board removed all displays, except those promoting library events, after multiple complaints were made over a Pride display at the Travelers Rest branch.
On Oct. 13, the operations committee met to revise the display policy before bringing it in front of the full board.
The new policy says book covers in all displays must be appropriate for any age group and cannot contain “a depiction or cruelty or violence, anything sexual in nature, profanity, or vulgar language.”
Library displays are allowed for “paid holidays observed by both Greenville County Government and the Greenville County Library System.” The executive director Beverly James has the authority to remove any display materials if “she determines the material is overtly political, provocative, inappropriate, or not relevant to the respective holiday.”
https://www.foxcarolina.com/2023/10/2...
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So since Juneteeth is a federal holiday, are they going to allow a Juneteenth display or ban it like last year? What about history months? Pride month? Picture books about LGBTQ+ books do not meet the criteria for NOT putting up a display. This policy doesn't make sense. It's just an excuse to erase marginalized peoples from being visible.
SUMNER COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — At the end of the library board meeting in Sumner County on Wednesday, Oct. 18, Beverly Hyde officially decided to step down as a board member.“This is my last meeting,” she said. “I tell you that with no animosity.”
For the last several weeks, she and other board members have been discussing a change to the library system’s collection policy.
“There’s some things in here I can’t live with,” Hyde said at that meeting. “I’m just going to be honest.
After numerous book challenges, it was proposed the library system put together a collection and development and management policy about which library collections are developed and how they are maintained.
Vice Chair Joanna Daniels presented a draft of the proposed policy at their September meeting.
“I know that people don’t like to be wordy, but in this day and age I think that if we are as precise and as clear as possible, it will make for things to go smoother,” she said.
Daniels presented a draft of the proposed policy at their September meeting.
A portion of the policy details how they will protect children from harmful and explicit material in the library, citing a state law regarding the display for sale or rental materials to minors.
That portion also defined in graphic detail the terms s-e-x act or s___ual activity, something that brought up debate among library board members.
Hyde and Chair Jackie Wilbur had concerns about having the details of sexual activity written out and available for anyone, especially children to see.
“If they read this, they might as well check out the book that is graphic,” said Wilbur.
However, other members disagreed, feeling this needed to be explained.
“I think this is to protect further damage of books that do have things that are so much more graphic than the scientific words,” said Erika Grammer. “This is not as graphic.”
Sarah Squires is the chair of Right to Read Sumner and questions the lasting impacts this policy could bring if approved.
“Even as descriptive as it is, it leaves a lot of ambiguity because if it doesn’t speak specifically to one of the acts that’s outlined, could the librarians still need to remove it for some reason?” she asked.
Right to Read Sumner also released a statement explaining how this policy could impact the first amendment. “Freedom of speech is not only freedom of the author, but its freedom of the community to consume information,” said Squires.
With a final vote coming in a few weeks, a decision will be made with one less person voting.
“Í just can’t do that,” said Hyde. “I’m sorry; it goes against my standards.”
The board is scheduled to officially vote on the policy change at their next meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 8 at 3:30 p.m.
https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/...
Good news. Since Scholastic is promoting book bans, Penguin Random House launches high schoolers’ award to combat book bansThe publisher’s $10,000 Freedom of Expression prize invites teens to write about a banned book that changed their life, against a backdrop of rising censorship.
The Freedom of Expression award invites applicants to write about one banned book that changed their life and why. The $10,000 (£8,168) prize will be awarded to a high-school student planning to attend university in 2024.
“In the midst of censorship efforts, it’s crucial that we protect and celebrate freedom of expression, especially for young people whose voices we need and want to lift up now more than ever,” said Claire von Schilling, director of corporate communications and social responsibility at Penguin Random House.
On the competition webpage, the publisher stated that books “by and/or about LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC communities” are being “disproportionately targeted” by new laws and regulations limiting the kinds of books young people have access to. “Books change lives” and “everyone deserves to see themselves in a book”, it added.
The award is run alongside four other prizes – for memoir, poetry, fiction/drama and spoken word – in the publisher’s Creative Writing awards, each with a $10,000 (£8,168) prize. The winners will also receive ongoing mentorship opportunities. The competition opened on 16 October and will close on 16 January, or when 1,000 applications have been submitted.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/202...
https://social-impact.penguinrandomho...
Dunno why this Cindy Vogel woman thinks high school is "too early" to expose young people to sexual content. I don't know about this school but in my school that would be like shutting the barn door after the horse had bolted. There were a couple of pregnant girls in my school, one boy had a child already by the time my health class got around to how babies are made/human development.And... let's get this straight there is no pr0n in libraries!
If you "can't" send your children to a school where there are library books you don't agree with, don't send them to that school! Ms. Dawson isn't even old enough to have high school age children. 2015-2023 = 8 so barely school age. Why is she so concerned with books in a school she doesn't have children at?
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Residents push Pine-Richland school (Penn.) directors to pull books from library
A handful of community members in the Pine-Richland School District pleaded with school directors Monday evening to remove books from school libraries they deemed to be sexually explicit and obscene.
Over the almost 2½-hour school board meeting at the A.W. Beattie Career Center in McCandless, around a dozen people questioned why certain books such as
All Boys Aren't Blue
Push
The Handmaid's Tale: The Graphic Novel
Their comments, which suggested the books were inappropriate for high school students, were largely met by applause from the almost 50 people in attendance.
“I’m concerned about the future and I want to express to you that it’s really critically important that each of us examine the things that our children are reading,” Cindy Vogel, pastor of the Church at the Heights in Pine, said. “From my own personal experience being exposed to sexual content too early is a very very serious thing.”
Thirteen books have been challenged over the past few days, Superintendent Brian Miller said during the meeting. Because this is the first time in recent years the district has received a book challenge, school directors are now planning to reexamine policies around resource materials and how books are chosen for student access. That process could take months.
To help keep parents informed in the meantime, board President Greg DiTullio suggested that the board consider a resolution during the Nov. 13 meeting to notify parents if their child checks out a book that is going through the review process.
“I have not read every book in our library,” Mr. DiTullio said. “But when some of this came to me … there are some things that I am personally concerned with. So I think that parental notification I thought is a reasonable ask and could be implemented rather quickly than a full discussion on OK, how does a book get here, why is one book accepted, one book rejected?”
Mr. Miller suggested the committee consist of 10 members including five staff members and five parents with high school students. Under the proposal, staff would include the high school librarian, library department chair, an English teacher, school counselor and high school administrator.
But the proposal was met with pushback from school Director Christine Brussalis, who cautioned against including a librarian “because I feel like we need some impartiality there. They’ve already made their choice and we need people on there who aren’t necessarily defending the positions but who have an impartial view toward the book they are reading.”
Mr. Miller defended the librarians, calling them “the certified professional. … We have 90,000 books in our library. They are one voice but as the superintendent I would say if I’m going to get a recommendation from a committee that’s balanced of parents and staff, I would want the voice of our librarian to be one of those voices.”
But Pine resident Christine Dawson agreed with Ms. Brussalis.
“How did these books get into the library in the first place,” Ms. Dawson said. “I should be able to trust those individuals deciding what goes into our libraries to not include dirty, graphic p**** and that is clearly not the case. If it was the certified professional known as a librarian I’m even more alarmed. No professional should ever allow, support or defend p*** in schools.”
Other board members, including Lisa Hillman, called for a more extensive review of the district’s policy to determine how certain books were permitted into the library. Others suggested the board needs to create a clearer pathway for when books are challenged.
Ms. Dawson, a 2015 Pine-Richland graduate, said any change is needed after reading the “shocking” content available to students.
“I am here because the PR I grew up in and was proud to graduate from is not the same one that exists today,” Ms. Dawson said. “Quite frankly, I don’t recognize it, and in its current state I would never send my children here.”
https://www.post-gazette.com/local/no...
Mod
Frankly, a nurse or a doctor who is obviously and publicly transphobic should NOT be allowed to work again in any capacity that involves caring for patients.
Mod
Cutting homophobic nasties like Lorraine Hackenshmidt off and muzzling them (preventing them from spewing hatred) is a good start, but yes, if "people" like Hackenschmidt keep uttering hate speech, there should also be a way to both criminally charge them and to also publicly and vocally name and shame them.
Manybooks wrote: "Frankly, a nurse or a doctor who is obviously and publicly transphobic should NOT be allowed to work again in any capacity that involves caring for patients.."Doctors and nurses are individuals. Some excellent doctors just don't understand gender dysphoria or accept it. The first treatment for children might be anti-depressants before discussing gender affirming care. In the case of the people in the article, yes that nurse should be banned from working with patients. A good health care professional is willing to listen and learn even if they don't understand. (Then they come home and get yelled at by their adult kid and spouse for not getting with the 21st century).
More news that popped up on Google today"The Freedom From Religion Foundation is demanding that the Menomonee Falls School Board in its home state of Wisconsin ban the bible after the school district’s recent book-banning spree.
The district recently banned 33 books on the basis of their “s---ally explicit content” or “profanity.” Some of the books are classics such as Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five, Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower. The district reportedly has a new policy that rejects any materials with “s--ually explicit language.”
FFRF is encouraging the school district to be consistent in the application of its policy.
“We want to make it clear that we are adamantly opposed to banning books,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “But the religious zealots can’t have it both ways. They can’t scour books looking for sexual references or content to offend them — regardless of literary or social value and context — then say that the obscenity found in the bible must be judged differently.”
FFRF advises that, so long as these 33 books are banned, the district must not judge the bible any differently, and it must purge all versions of the bible in order to truly keep obscene sexual content out of school libraries. However, the best solution, FFRF suggests, is to leave a diversity of viewpoints in school libraries, and trust students to explore complex topics themselves by not banning books from school libraries.
https://ffrf.org/uploads/legal/Menomo...
https://ffrf.org/news/news-releases/i...
Encouraging news from North CarolinaThe Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Central Media Advisory Committee decided the fate of two books challenged within the district.
A CMS parent objected to the books available at Ardrey Kell High School due to their content.
The North Carolina Parent's Bill of Rights made it easier for parents to object to books they think are inappropriate. It also gives them a uniform appeals process to get them taken out of schools.
"A parent would go online to the CMS Parent Bill of Rights website," Kim Ray, the Central Media Advisory Committee's co-chair said. "And they would complete a form and raise an objection to a library book or a curriculum book."
The CMAC committee only deals with library objections.
A CMS policy, which now aligns with the Parent's Bill of Rights, would first require the school's School Media Advisory Committee to review the book.
The school would have 20 days to review the book and decide whether to keep the book, restrict it, or remove it.
In the Monday meeting, the books "Nineteen Minutes" by Jodi Picoult and “Sold” by Patricia McCormick were being reviewed by the CMAC as part of the appeals process.
CMAC is made up of CMS media specialists, curriculum specialists, and parents.
Members had stacks of book next to them with sticky notes lodged into the crevices of the books under review. The members were all assigned homework before they got together.
"The team will read the book, read reviews, read the concerns from the parent, read the notes from the school-based team," Ray said.
Nineteen Minutes
Sold
The committee had three choices to decide on the books.
Retain in school School/District Collections
Remove from School Collection
Remove from District Collections
After the discussion, the verdict was to allow the book in high schools only.
The same decision was made for the book, “Sold”.
"I expected those decisions," Brooke Weiss, Mecklenburg County chapter chair for Moms For Liberty, said. Weiss is the CMS parent who made the appeals, in addition to seven other books, to the advisory committee.
"Every parent should be able to make the decision that they made in there today," Weiss said. "Every parent should be able to decide on an individual basis which books their kids have access to."
"Most parents do not have the time to dig in the way that I have," Weiss said. "But that doesn't mean that they want their children reading about the sex, slave trade or, you know, reading books that have granted graphic and explicit sexual content."
"I take a lot of hits, people say a lot of really ugly stuff about me," Weiss said. "Not every parent wants to come forward and deal with that. So half of the stuff that I know about, I know about because other parents come to me. "
After the CMAC decision, parents have the ability to appeal to the superintendent.
"I don't intend on further appealing those books.," Weiss said.
The seven other books appealed by Weiss are coming up for discussion at another CMAC meeting.
"There are some pretty serious issues with those books," Weiss said. "So I am absolutely hoping for a specific outcome. Like I said, I've not asked for books to be removed. I do think it's really important for a book like that, if they decide to keep it, to be separated out from from all of the other books, because [in] my opinion that book has absolutely no business being in an educational setting."
https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/edu...
More on Scholastic and the graphic novelists who refuse to cater to censorship.Molly Ostertag
Raina Telgemeier
+ many more
Tracey West, Vicky Fang, Mike Jung, Christina Soontornvat, Isabella Kung, Molly Knox Ostertag, Daniel José Older, Booki Vivat, Martha Brockenbrough, Suzanne Kaufman, Jennifer Ziegler, Valerie Bolling, Debbi Michiko Florence, Jarrett J. Krosoczka, Sarah Darer Littman, Claribel A. Ortega, Aron Nels Steinke, Sarah Mlynowski, Lamar Giles, Angela Burke Kunkel, Laura Zarrin, Tracy Nishimura Bishop, Kyle Lukoff, Alan Gratz, Shirley Ng-Benitez, Veera Hiranandani, Raina Telgemeier, Barry Deutsch, Mónica Mancillas, Yamile Saied Mendez, Kelly Yang, Mitali Banerjee Ruths, and over two hundred more.
https://bleedingcool.com/comics/black...
MENOMONEE FALLS, Wis. - Days after the Menomonee Falls School District banned 33 books from the high school's library, parents, students and concerned community members spoke at a Monday night school board meeting.The topic of banned books was not on the meeting agenda. Still, those who attended used the comment period to speak both in support and opposition of the decision.
"If you want these books, go to the public libraries or buy them on amazon," said Annette.
"It is not the responsibility of the school board to impose your moral values," Mary Ellen said.
"We are asked to grow and thrive and yet our school board decides it is above our right to chose what we read," said a current student. "We are given presentations asking the students to say no to drugs, while the school board does not trust us to choose the books available to use."
"It wasn't that long ago I was in high school, I agree these books in the library are inappropriate," said Sadie, a 2020 graduate.
The Menomonee Falls School District's current policy allows a parent or person living in the village to make a complaint about a book, which then triggers several levels of review. But there are questions about what process was used for these specific books.
"If you aren't allowed to buy it from an adult bookstore, you shouldn't be able to check it out of the school library," Robert said.
"When a list of banned books has clearly discriminatory focus, it's going to invite challenges from parents to the non-discrimination clauses of local, state, and federal law," said Renee.
School Board President Nina Christensen:
"I want to clarify some misperceptions that have been floating in the news, social media and tonight regarding library books.
FIRST, the most recent decision to remove certain books was made pursuant to a review process that involved members of our professionally educated and experienced administration team, which included our Superintendent, Director of Curriculum & Learning, and Director of Human Resources, who also worked on the revisions to Policy 365, related to the selection of materials for our school libraries.
These administrators, in their position and authority, reviewed, identified and determined that there were a number books in violation of Board policy 365.
I was not involved in the decision-making process. On October 18, I was provided with the list of books the administrative team deemed to be out of compliance with our policy. With that being said, I am in full support of what was done.
SECOND, this is NOT about banning books. It is about compliance with our District’s Policy and Procedure 365. Policy and Procedure 365 sets a standard for content in the materials available in the District’s school libraries. It is based on age/grade appropriateness with the focus on limiting material with sexually explicit content and profanity, which is based, in part, on State Statute 948.11, "Exposing a child to harmful material or harmful descriptions or narrations".
It is defined as (view spoiler) It asks if the content "is patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community as a whole with respect to what is suitable for children."
If an average citizen were to violate this state statute, it would be considered a Class 1 felony.
Some books designated for removal contain graphic scenes of (view spoiler) Children are reading this content, and many are doing so without parental knowledge.
So how are we, as a District, in compliance with state statute to protect children when we have books in our school libraries that contain almost 670 expletives, 400 of which are f-bombs and many others, or books that contain graphic and explicit excerpts?
How is it age appropriate for our students?
(view spoiler)
The decision to remove the books from the school library was made to protect our students from this harmful material and protect our District from being in violation with our own Board policies. Books selected in our school libraries in the past, even though such books may have received awards, did not adhere to Board policies, then and now.
It is the District's duty to provide materials that comply with our Board policies, whatever personal opinions one may have about the books. The routine process of reviewing the books and determining to remove such books from our school libraries is consistent with the operating procedures of our District professionals. Hundreds of books are weeded and removed each year. Last year in the 22-23 school year, it was almost 1,500 books.
A former superintendent had said, "It is within the scope of our district and staff's authority to remove books from circulation. It is done regularly, based on the condition of the books, the changing of the needs of the library, space constraints, and appropriateness."
Previous administrations and administrators have exercised their authority and used a similar process to remove books. In recent years, books with graphic content were removed from the library collection in the same manner. So, how is this time any different?
No one is preventing individuals from having access to these books or to read them; they are free to purchase them at a bookstore and check them out at the public library.
However, in a school district and educational setting, WE are responsible for making decisions in the best interest of children. We have a code of conduct and a dress code in our schools to establish basic standards for our students. So, why would it not apply to materials that students are exposed to, especially when there are rules and regulations that govern these guidelines?
https://www.fox6now.com/news/menomone...
This decision comes several days after a group of former committee members filed a lawsuit against the district, the school board and several individual board members, including McKinney, for wrongful termination and violating open meeting laws.Bonnie Cleaveland, the former committee chair and one of the plaintiffs, called the five board members who voted to remove her the “fascist five” who were “egregiously and globally violating the law” in a statement.
Cleaveland and other committee members previously told The Post and Courier they believed they were removed as retaliation for enacting a more-inclusive sexual education curriculum than the district previously had in place. A former committee member said the old curriculum favored heterosexuality and abstinence and described anything else as “unusual.”
Cleaveland also previously noted the five board members who voted to overhaul the committee were endorsed by the conservative parents’ rights group Moms for Liberty, which has spoken out against LGBTQ education and other issues.
https://www.postandcourier.com/news/c...
Same parental rights stuff in the U.K.Gillian Keegan tells schools to let parents see sex education materials
Education secretary’s letter emphasises copyright cannot be used as ‘excuse’ to withhold RSHE teaching resources
Gillian Keegan has written to schools in England ordering them to make the materials used in children’s sex education available to be seen by parents, warning headteachers there can be “no ifs, no buts, no more excuses”.
It is the second letter the education secretary has sent to schools on the issue, which has been seized upon by some backbench Conservative MPs amid claims that children are being exposed to inappropriate material during relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) at school.
The secretary of state first wrote in March after reports that some schools were being prevented from sharing curriculum resources provided by a third party with parents because of warnings over copyright.
The latest ultimatum to schools – many of which are closed for half-term – said companies providing RSHE teaching resources cannot and should not use copyright law to prevent schools from sharing materials. Any attempt to do so would be unenforceable and void, she added.
Keegan said: “This government is acting to guarantee parents’ fundamental right to know what their children are being taught in sex and relationships education.
“Today I’m writing to schools and parents to debunk the copyright myth that parents cannot see what their children are being taught. Parents must be empowered to ask and schools should have the confidence to share.”
According to the Department for Education (DfE), if a third-party provider tries to stop schools sharing curriculum materials with parents when asked, schools should carry on regardless, because it would “contradict the clear public interest in parents being aware of what their children are being taught”.
The DfE is also sending a sample letter that all schools can adapt and send to external providers, making clear such copyright clauses are unenforceable.
More than 50 organisations concerned with education and tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG) wrote to Keegan, urging her to resist the “politicisation” of sex education. Updated guidance on RSHE is expected to be published by the end of the year for public consultation.
Geoff Barton, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, agreed there should be transparency over materials used in RSE lessons and welcomed the clarification over copyright law. “However, we are concerned that the education secretary’s letter to schools and parents creates an expectation that schools will publish every piece of planning and resource used across the RSHE curriculum,” he said. “This is a huge additional workload requirement at a time when they are already significantly overburdened.”
Parentkind, which represents parent-teacher associations, welcomed the secretary of state’s intervention. The chief executive, Jason Elsom, said: “The key to children receiving appropriate and beneficial relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) teaching is full transparency with parents.
“Our research clearly demonstrates that when parents are consistently informed about RSHE in advance, they are significantly likelier to have confidence in the curriculum and be supportive of the content. This move should help to reassure parents about the content and provision of RSHE.”
https://www.theguardian.com/education...
Scholastic still fails to see the problem but now they're offering an opt-out rather than an opt-IN. Too late. So many librarians and teachers are done with them now. Lame apology letter
https://www.npr.org/2023/10/25/120841...
Major textbook publishers withdraw from Oklahoma as fight over content worsensAlready eight companies have withdrawn from consideration ahead of an expected vote on math materials next month by the Oklahoma Textbook Committee. The committee must select the approved list of math textbooks for schools to use over the next six years.
Former state officials who were part of the textbook adoption process say the number of vendors withdrawing this year is remarkably high.
As conservative voices continue to scrutinize classroom content, the officials said schools could be left with fewer textbooks that meet the rigorous standard of review in Oklahoma, a small-market state that already has limited leverage with the publishing industry.
Seventeen companies initially asked to be considered in this year’s math textbook adoption process, according to records the Oklahoma State Department of Education provided. Eight withdrew, and one company was removed for not submitting a printed sample product.
Eight vendors are left.
One of them, McGraw Hill, faces a complaint from the conservative parent group Moms for Liberty. The group’s Tulsa County chapter urged the state textbook committee to reject the company’s bid over alleged social-emotional learning in its products.
Three of the 12 companies on the previous math textbook approval list have withdrawn, including one of the largest textbook publishers in the country. Another four haven’t submitted an intent to bid.
The textbook committee’s chairperson, Kendra Wesson, referred questions to the state Education Department.
An agency spokesperson, Dan Isett, did not respond to questions about whether textbook vendors provided reasons for withdrawing.
“Unlike the previous administration, Superintendent Walters is committed to eliminating woke indoctrination in Oklahoma classrooms, including in textbooks,” Isett said. “Consequently, the process is different now from in years past because it includes an extra layer of review.”
Oklahoma’s textbook review process has become more rigorous, but that stems from changes that took effect before Walters came into office this year.
State lawmakers passed a law in 2020 requiring an extra review by subject-matter experts, who then make recommendations to the state textbook committee.
Former state Education Department staff involved in developing that review process say multiple vendors who withdrew from Oklahoma likely would have performed well under the Legislature’s new system.
One company still in the running to make Oklahoma’s approved list is McGraw Hill, one of America’s most recognizable textbook publishers.
A leader of the Tulsa County chapter of Moms for Liberty said at an Oct. 6 state textbook committee meeting that the company’s bid should be rejected because its elementary math textbooks contain social-emotional learning concepts that do “not belong in mathematics.”
At issue were “math mindset” sections that promote self-awareness, self-regulation, and skills for relationship-building and decision-making.
Walters similarly opposes social-emotional learning in schools, his spokesperson said.
“While sounding innocuous, the Social Emotional Learning framework actually encompasses the far-left belief that each child is nothing more than a member of an oppressed class, or the oppressor themselves,” Isett said in a statement. “This is simply inappropriate, and wrong.”
These sections are meant to facilitate classroom discussions and encourage students to share their mathematical thinking as they problem-solve through each lesson, McGraw Hill’s Chief Academic Officer Katie McClarty wrote in response to the Moms for Liberty complaint.
“McGraw Hill firmly believes that students’ success in academics is tied not just to the high-quality content and sound pedagogy found in our programs but to their individual ability to think mathematically and work productively, confidently, and collaboratively with their peers through the rigorous math content they are learning,” McClarty wrote.
https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/...
In Penn. - Blackhawk School District receives pushback after controversial library book policy changehttps://www.post-gazette.com/news/edu...
Controversial changes to a policy around library books in the Blackhawk School District are causing pushback from community members and lawyers at the Education Law Center who say the amendments make it easier for district residents to challenge books available to students.
The changes, which passed in a 6-3 vote, drew more than 70 people to the Beaver County district last week where at least nine people called on school directors to hold off on a vote that would create a more concrete process for when a book is challenged and permit anyone in the community to submit a complaint regardless of whether they have a child in the district. Two people encouraged the board to move forward with the amendments.
“We have a lot of concerns with what’s going on at Blackhawk School District,” Hetal Dhagat, an Education Law Center senior attorney, said in an interview with the Post-Gazette. “Now that those policies have passed I think we’re most concerned about a small amount of parents really imposing their viewpoints on what books students have available to read in their school libraries.”
In all, amendments to the policy allow students and parents to “reject the use of resource materials that are incompatible with their values or fundamental religious beliefs,” the policy reads. It also specifies the process for how books will be reviewed, with a final determination on if a novel can remain in the school library made by the school board. It also includes definitions for child p_____phy and obscenity while describing how library books could be harmful to minors.
The problem, Ms. Dhagat said, is that certain language was removed from the policies including that books should present all points of view, and that they cannot be removed or banned due to “partisan or doctrinal disapproval.” Other language struck from the policy suggested that resource materials shall not be discriminatory in nature.
And parents in Pennsylvania, she said, already have the right to request that their child not access certain library books. They can also review their child’s library records.
“These book bans are stifling the knowledge of students … based on very narrow viewpoints of limited individuals in the school district,” Ms. Dhagat said.
Discussions around library books started in September after school director Gwen Deluca challenged 12 books in the middle and high school libraries she said are sexually explicit, obscene and vulgar. During that time, a handful of books were restricted by the superintendent as policy discussions took place, meaning they could only be accessed by students 18 and older or by a student under the age of 18 if they had parent permission. Those books will remain restricted until the challenges are resolved.
Under Blackhawk’s old policy, parents or guardians in the district could submit a request for reconsideration of resource materials to the building principal. If the principal was unable to satisfy the request, the complaint would then move to a building review committee including an administrator, media specialist, two teachers and two community members. If the complaint was still not resolved it would move to the superintendent and then to the school board, which could assign an ad hoc committee to review the material.
During the process challenged materials could still be accessed by students and staff.
Changes largely follow that same process laid out in the original policy regarding who reviews challenged materials. But now if the principal is unable to satisfy the challenge it will be referred to a Reconsideration of Resource Material Review Committee made up of two board members, two administrators, the building principal who received the complaint, the director of curriculum and the high school library media specialist.
If the concern remains unresolved following a committee review, the superintendent will bring it to the board, who have 15 days to vote on whether to keep or remove the material from the library.
Access to challenged materials will now be restricted during the reconsideration process.
“It’s hard to imagine that a book that has very, very explicit content would be up for debate. … We need to be cognizant of what’s in our schools, does it relate to our curriculum, does it serve an educational purpose,” Solicitor Jordan Shuber told the Post-Gazette. “And so rather than just letting everything go and be in the library without any opportunity for review, this at least now puts a policy in place where if folks do have concerns they can talk about it with their teachers, principals, educators and really see if it’s of worthwhile literary value.”
In addition to community pushback, the Education Law Center also sent a letter to the board urging them to vote against the proposed policies while citing a 1982 Supreme Court ruling that said school boards cannot remove library books “simply because they dislike the ideas contained in those books.”
“From ELCs perspective, we’re continuing to fight these book bans at both the district and state level, trying to really help school boards understand that there are First Amendment rights of students that they can’t be restricting and to also help school communities to really want to rally and push back at the book bans and removing books from shelves without following district policy,” Ms. Dhagat said.
Alabama is really going draconian. Many people know they're gay by high school and most kids know someone who is. Denying them the right to learn about themselves and how to be safe, healthy and happy is simply unAmerican. Thomas Jefferson wrote all Americans were entitled to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Lawmaker plans to bring bill to expand “Don’t Say Gay” law through 12th grade
State Rep. Mack Butler said he is bringing the bill to combat “an agenda” in the public school system.
https://www.alreporter.com/2023/10/24...
“Parents have lost a lot of say in education; Covid brought a lot of that stuff back front and center,” Butler said. “I just want to give breath and life to the parents’ wishes. Just like with books in the library—nobody wants to ban any books. But your 5-year-old can’t go to R-rated or X-rated movies. This puts the adults back in charge.”
The bill as Butler presented it last year simply changed the state’s existing legislation to extend it through eighth grade—it currently covers kindergarten through fifth grade.
The original legislation was tacked on by Sen. Shay Shelnutt, R-Trussville, by amendment to a House bill by Rep. Scott Stadthagen, R-Hartselle, requiring students to use the bathroom that aligns with their sex assigned at birth.
Butler said his bill in the 2023 session was filed just to “get the conversation started” and said there are still potential changes to the bill to come.
“I’m supposed to meet with some people pretty soon on that, some different groups,” Butler said.
One of the groups Butler said he has had contact with is Moms for Liberty. A flier obtained by APR shows that Butler is scheduled to speak with the Madison County chapter of Moms for Liberty by Zoom on Nov. 2 about the bill.
The flier advertises that Butler will be speaking about “his ‘age appropriate curriculum’ bill which would ban gender ideology, religion, race and sexual orientation from being taught in K-12 for all educational institutions.”
Hateful comments in the spoiler box
APR asked Butler whether the law would apply to a school asking students to do a book report on a book that featured gay characters.
(view spoiler)
If Butler truly does bring the bill as an expansion of the “Don’t Say Gay” law through 12th grade, it would be one of three legislative goals by Clean Up Alabama, a statewide group challenging LGBTQ content in young adult and children’s sections of public libraries.
Minutes from an August meeting of the group identify an expansion of the law as one of the group’s goals, although it vaguely mentions that the law should be applicable to public libraries.
Butler said this bill only deals with public educational although he expects legislation will be filed in regards to libraries.
“If you look at … what was read at the (Alabama Public Library Service recently) … I served 10 years on that state board,, and a couple years as its president,” Butler said. “I watched video of that happen in Montgomery. The president now tried to stop the lady, and said ‘That’s inappropriate.’ Some of this stuff is just inappropriate.”
“I want to be very protective and be an advocate for students and protective of the students and their innocence,” Butler said.
Again, Pennsylvania with outside influencePine-Richland to reconsider school library policy after complaints about books
https://triblive.com/news/top-stories...
The Pine-Richland school library has not had a formal complaint about a book since July 2013, district Superintendent Brian Miller said at a school board meeting this week.
That changed this week when there were complaints filed on more than a dozen separate titles.
Former school board member Therese Dawson of Wexford has a theory in the sudden surge to purge the school library: “Marxist librarians.”
“People are waking up,” Dawson said during the meeting. “And the reason they’re waking up is because of the gratitude we should extend to five of our candidates in this district that are running for school board, that alerted us to Banned Book Week, which is offered by the leader of the American Library Association who’s a self-proclaimed Marxist.”
“Isn’t that great our librarians are members of a Marxist-led organization, and we wonder why we have this conflict,” Dawson said. “Why you haven’t heard about it since 2013, because people finally are catching on to this scam called public education and lack of parental rights and lack of transparency and covert fake committees with handpicked members to bring in whatever the team of one wants to convince the rest of the team of nine about.”
Dawson, along with eight community members, addressed the Pine-Richland School Board during the public comment portion of the meeting for the removal of books deemed to be sexually explicit and obscene in nature. Residents questioned not only the material but also questioned Policy 109.1, which would allow the questionable material available at the public school.
According to the policy, questionable materials will stay in circulation until the complaint is reviewed by a committee comprised of community and staff members.
While not on the agenda, the board did discuss several ways to address the issue, including a revision of the policy and sending a notification to parents if questionable material were to be borrowed.
School board President Greg DiTullio said he was hoping the board could find a quick resolution before beginning the timely procedure to change the school’s policy.
“Can we put something in that … governs that what happens to the books that are … ‘in limbo?’” DiTullio said. “I can only speak for me. I have not read every book in our library, but when some of those came to me, and I have not even gotten through all of them, there are some things that I am personally concerned with, so I think a parental notification … was a reasonable ask and could be implemented rather quickly.”
Board member Lisa Hillman, along with many of the residents who spoke at the meeting, wanted to know how the school allowed the materials in the first place.
“We need to follow the policy,” Hillman said. “And if we were doing that, these books would not be in the library.”
One of the people who spoke at the meeting was North Carolina resident Pastor John K. Amanchukwu Sr., who was introduced to the board by Dawson as “her roommate.”
Amanchukwu has talked to several school boards across the country, including in Colorado, California, Florida, Nevada and North Carolina, often reading “explicit” passages from books.
The board said it will continue to navigate this issue at the Nov. 13 meeting, with the possibility of forming a committee of residents and school officials on how materials are selected and how parents are informed when new books are available at the library.
Erin Hasinger, district director of communications, told the board that the Pine-Richland libraries post new books in their quarterly newsletters.
The list of books that are being reconsidered will be posted to the school’s website later this week, according to Hasinger.
“I understand, we understand and hear the comments and concerns here,” Miller said. “Some of the books mentioned — one of them does not exist in hard copy in our libraries. It does not exist. It exists digitally, and it’s never been checked out.” All Boys Aren't Blue
Mod
So if students in Alabama out themselves at school and refuse to keep quiet about gender and sexuality, will they now be arrested and sent to re-education camps?
Frankly I wonder if Mack Butler is actually in the closet regarding his own sexuality, as many virulent homophobes are secretly gay (that was certainly the case with Adolf Hitler and Mack Butler as a Hitler clone is perhaps the same).
South CarolinaLR5 committee will decide whether to remove library book. They may not finish reading it
A Court of Mist and Fury
Most of the members of the review committee, five out of nine, have told district administrators they will need more time to finish the book, which has 640 pages. The committee — made up of parents, teachers and librarians — held its first meeting on Oct. 2, and under district policy is required to reach a decision on whether to keep or permanently exclude the book within 30 business days of receiving the complaint. Superintendent Akil Ross asked the board to grant the readers an extension to Nov. 30. The committee is tasked with not only reading all 640 pages but also any supplementary material reviewing or examining the book’s content. Ross said he worried an incomplete review process could come back to bite the school district. “We have First Amendment obligations,” he said. “If an author brought a case against the district, if there are concerns we didn’t follow our own policy, it’s worth the extension to take that argument off the table.” He doesn’t want the committee to reconvene the first week of November, announce they haven’t finished reading the book, and then make a decision about it anyway. “We have one volunteer, the others have been asked to do this,” Ross said.
He said the school district only had three copies of Maas’s book in its system, and had to order six more copies so each committee member would be able to read the book in its entirety. “A Court of Mist and Fury” has already been pulled from school libraries and will remain pulled until the committee finishes its review. But school board members were unsympathetic, skeptical that the committee could not finish the book within the time allotted. When board secretary Kimberly Snipes expressed concern some committee members would drop out if they aren’t given more time to finish the book, chairwoman Rebecca Blackburn Hines said, “We’re just giving people excuses. It’s not acceptable to give in just because an author might sue us or somebody could quit a committee.”
Read more at: https://www.thestate.com/news/local/e...
Iowa schools may finally get help from the state with the new book ban law. What to know:After months of clamoring by public school administrators, Iowa Department of Education officials have set the first in a series of deadlines for eagerly awaited state guidance educators say they need to navigate a new law that orders them to remove books depicting sex and restricts teaching about gender identity.
Since Senate File 496's passage earlier this year, education officials and advocates have pushed for the Iowa Department of Education to give the state's 325 school districts a playbook for how to comply with the sweeping and controversial law.
Left to seek their own legal guidance, some schools have removed hundreds of books, while others are requiring parents and guardians to give permission before a child can be called by a nickname. Others have waited, hoping for direction from the state before the law's penalties go into effect Jan 1.
https://www.desmoinesregister.com/sto...
Manybooks wrote: "So if students in Alabama out themselves at school and refuse to keep quiet about gender and sexuality, will they now be arrested and sent to re-education camps?..."
What's happening is they aren't allowed to use their gender and name they feel best matches how they feel. They are deadnamed, misgendered, not allowed to use the bathroom that corresponds to their gender and their parents are notified. All that takes a huge toll on the mental health of the students and every single expert has stated LGBTQ+ kids have a high suicide rate. The parents may send the kids to conversion therapy or even kick the kids out of the house and refuse to speak to their own children or acknowledge them.
Whether the teachers will make a stand and support these kids remains to be seen. So far, they feel they can't. Many have resigned.
The news in Florida keeps getting worse.Sarasota County asked to end ties to library associations over 'ideology, explicit' books
Concern voiced over diversity, equity and inclusion content, as well as books that would cause youth 'to become uncomfortable and commit suicide'
https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/n...
The speakers who addressed the board during the board's public comment period asked that the issue be brought up for a vote at its Nov. 14 meeting.
Citing policies that promote diversity, equity and inclusion, Michelle Pozzie called the ALA part of a “bigger umbrella of three-letter organizations that, believe it or not, push ideology over explicit material and not age appropriate material as well as DEI talking points – which is a pet peeve of our governor, so it should be, as a reflection, for you, too.”
Pozzie, who said she homeschooled two children, said libraries are not safe for children because of books that can found there, including the 2019 graphic novel “Gender Queer: A Memoir,” by Maia Kobabe.
“Let me be clear, no one wants to ban books or censor speech but filth and ideology should not be funded in the taxpayer’s expense,” Pozzie said. “It’s not my responsibility to fund a book that sits on a shelf Pozzie said. “It’s not my responsibility to fund a book that sits on a shelf that teaches young people – in cartoon images – (view spoiler)
[Let's be clear - this book is a memoir not an instruction manual and it's written for adults with special interest for TEENS and not children.]
A Sarasota County spokeswoman said via email Tuesday that Sarasota County pays annual dues of $1,300 to the American Library Association and $2,673 to the Florida Library Association.
Neither association dictates media stocking decisions in libraries for Sarasota County; all of those decisions made by local librarians.
Severing those ties would mean the loss of “discounts on job posting services, publications, and professional training opportunities,” the spokeswoman said.
Sarasota County’s membership in the Florida Library Association provides the library with 10 registrations for the annual state conference to learn about “best practices, trends, and new services for public libraries.”
Conni Brunni, president of the Sarasota County Republican Assembly Chapter, as well as leader of Sarasota's Moms for Liberty chapter, said via text that the push for the commission to defund the two library associations is an extension of a push by the Christian Family Coalition fostered through the Sarasota County Republican Assembly Chapter.
Speaker Linda Weinrich criticized youth reading challenges offered online through the library.
“I’ve looked at summer reading books that were on display in our bookstores for years – witchcraft books, there were books on pornography, all kinds of books,” said Weinrich, who said she was concerned children would be exposed to reading things that would cause them to “become uncomfortable and commit suicide.”
Clayton Taylor talked about his son being exposed to reading inappropriate materials in the syllabus of a since-departed English teacher at Venice High School, also urged not contributing financially to the two library associations through county affiliation with them.
“This country was founded on virtues,” Taylor said. “As part of that we need to protect the innocence of our children and the rights of our parents.”
There is some good news in MichiganA lawsuit filed against Rockford Public Schools over 14 library books described as “s___ually explicit” has been dismissed by a Kent County judge.
The lawsuit was filed against the school district in late August by a group called “Parents and Taxpayers Against P___hy in Rockford Public Schools.”
In a 15-page ruling issued Wednesday, Quist tossed the lawsuit.
“Although the court shares Plaintiffs’ concerns about the s___ally explicit nature of some texts and illustrations in the books at issue, the Court is compelled by the material facts and applicable law to dismiss Plaintiffs’ complaint,” Quist wrote.
Attorney Helen Brinkman, who represented those seeking to have the books removed, argued that it was not a First Amendment issue.
“The First Amendment has never allowed children access to this type of material,” she argued in court last week. “It is a felony in the state of Michigan to provide this material to minors.”
Superintendent Steve Matthews said the books are not part of the district’s curriculum.
The school district also said parents can have any book blocked from being checked out by their students, but it hasn’t received any formal challenges about these books.
https://www.woodtv.com/news/kent-coun...
Mod
So if students in Alabama out themselves at school and refuse to keep quiet about gender and sexuality, will they now be arrested and sent to re-education camps?..."
What's hap..."
Trans students should just NOT cooperate and NOT respond if their names and pronouns are being used wrong and just use the bathrooms they feel comfortable using. They need to rebel with serious and overt civil disobedience and in a collective manner (and teachers not in agreement with Adolf Hitler Butler need to also rebel).
Today's news is alarming but the next generation is mostly rising to the occasion to fight for a better future.__________________
An Indiana library board sought to protect kids from books. No one asked what they thought.
The Hamilton East Public Library Board wanted a blueprint, a set of guidelines that could be put into practice in their libraries and others across the country to stop what they viewed as harmful books from sitting on shelves where young people could access them.
The policy, a result of their labors, drew defenders and critics, further exposing divisions in the suburbs where conservative often religious ideologies mix with moderate and progressive beliefs.
For now, the policy has been put on hold. Books removed while the policy was in operation remain in the adult section. And the question remains, how will the library board proceed.
Everybody said they had the best interest of youths at heart.
Parents and board members who favored the policy said they wanted to protect teens from sexually explicit and violent reading materials.
Those opposed to restricting book access said young people and their parents should be allowed to make their own decisions about what to read.
But through it all, nobody truly asked the children.
Sitting together in the library’s teen section one afternoon, teenagers Reva Gooty and Cate O’Malley said they did not hear about the new policy until this summer, months after it was implemented, when author John Green spoke out on social media against the decision to move his book “The Fault in Our Stars.” The high school juniors, who study together regularly at the Fishers library, told IndyStar they didn’t understand why adults want to shield them from reading about violence, sex or things most young adults have heard by their age. “I can see how from the other perspective, it's like ‘Well, I just don't want my children learning about it,’” O’Malley said. “But they don't have to read it if they don't want to because they can keep track of your book records.”
Gooty said she doesn’t find it fair that one side can decide what everyone should do given that some people disagree.
“Lots of parents have different boundaries on what their kids can read and it really varies because lots of people have different religions or different values,” Gooty said. “So I think it's up to the individual parent.”
In a scathing September cover story for Hamilton Southeastern High School’s student newspaper The Orb, three high school juniors decried the library board, saying moving books could harm young readers rather than protect them.
“Removing or relocating books and materials from a publicly owned space can be detrimental to the knowledge of children and adults alike,” the story written by Charlotte Miksha, Nicole Morris, and Lauren Kopka said.
Charlotte Miksha, the first author on the article, is the daughter of Andre Miksha, an HEPL board member who originally agreed to a plan to review the books in the young adult and children's sections. [Ha! You go girl!]
In hindsight, Miksha said speaking for himself, he understands why the policy didn't work. It came from the top down, and those who voted for it didn’t care what teens wanted for themselves.
“One could be troubled by the disjointed rhetoric of parental rights and the responsibilities of parents with the policy that's drawn the way that it is,” Miksha said. “We end up with where there's only liberty granted within the bounds in which the policy writers want to see the liberty granted.”
The new policy had little chance of actually keeping teens from reading certain books, the teens said. Both of their high schools, Hamilton Southeastern and Fishers, carry copies of Green’s TFIOS.
If Gooty wants a book from the library she orders it online and picks it up without ever stepping foot in the teen section.
O’Malley said teens are exposed to violence, racism and sexual assault from several sources outside library walls, including social media, news and entertainment.
“I agree that some serious topics are very heavy to burden on people our age because we're still young, obviously, but either way we're gonna be exposed to it,” she said.
The board never consulted the library system’s Teen Advisory Board, which meets monthly, about the policy. Nor has an adult board member ever attended meetings of the group, although some board members requested the teen board’s meeting minutes in August, library staff told IndyStar. However, policies regarding children and teens often are put in place without anyone consulting minors for their input, Laura Merrifield Wilson, an associate professor of political science at the University of Indianapolis.said. But in this case, she added, she sees a strong argument for doing so.
....
the board has yet to formally announce how they plan to hear feedback from the community, something they promised to do in August. Soon they will embark on the library’s strategic plan, which essentially establishes the library’s chosen direction.
This time, teenagers, like the Orb staff and many others, may be paying closer attention to what the board does.
"From governments to social media, censorship is everywhere," the Orb wrote. "The books removed from libraries and the words omitted from stories add up to the information people might never know they are missing."
https://www.indystar.com/story/news/l...
Chicago area suburb Hampshire High School's musical "The Prom" musical will go on! The official story
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/b...
Suburban school district reconsiders postponing Hampshire’s spring musical about gay teens after student and parent outcry
After more than 4,000 people signed an online petition and dozens of students, parents and alumni spoke at a Tuesday school board meeting, condemning the move as “embarrassing” and “frustrating,” the district in the northwest Chicago suburbs is walking back its decision.
Susan Harkin, the superintendent of District 300, said Tuesday that due to the “strong support we received from students,” the district is “reconsidering the decision to postpone the musical contingent upon developing and implementing a comprehensive safety plan.”
Harkin said she would meet with students on Thursday to provide an update.
“I would like to clarify that our initial decision to postpone the musical was not related to Hampshire High School students or their desire to demonstrate their school’s progress toward supporting the LGBTQ+ community,” she said. “Instead, the postponement reflected a concern for the larger District 300 community’s preparedness to fully support this performance without risking potential harassment, bullying and violence targeting our LGBTQ+ students, performers, staff and community members.”
Those safety concerns included potential harassment of LGBTQ+ students and faculty.
“So while I and our school district firmly believe that offering inclusive opportunities that represent and support all District 300 students, I am concerned about the safety of those involved,” she said.
Chad Beguelin who wrote the lyrics and co-wrote the book for “The Prom,” shared on social media that he emailed the school board and Harkin about the musical’s “history of bringing people together and message of inclusion,” calling the district’s decision “maddening.”
“The show is about accepting everybody and that’s what we do here. Music and theater in high school is so important to the growth of our kids and not just as musicians and actors, but to make them better people,” said Chris Cherry, the musical director at Hampshire High School. “They learn empathy, they learn how to walk in someone else’s shoes. By denying us an opportunity to tell this story, we’re missing out on a whole experience that these kids deserve.”
Cherry, who’s been a teacher for nearly 20 years, said he and his staff chose “The Prom” at the end of August, acquiring the licensing rights. He said the principal at Hampshire, Brett Bending, also approved the show. Cherry said the principal gave the district a heads-up, in case they received any complaints or questions about the musical’s LGBTQ+ themes.
Then, a couple of days later, Cherry said he was told not to announce the show, and has been in meetings with administrators ever since.
“Their assessment of our building and their assessment of our community, I just adamantly disagree with,” Cherry said. “Their line has been Hampshire is not ready for this type of show. Hampshire High School is not ready to handle all these threats and backlash that’s going to come for doing this kind of show, and I disagree with both of those points.”
Last Wednesday, Cherry said Harkin told him that maybe they could perform “The Prom” next year “if they do enough work,” although Cherry said he isn’t sure what that work would entail. He said administrators suggested hosting community meetings and feedback sessions, something he hasn’t had to do for previous musicals, such as “The Little Mermaid” and “The Addams Family.”
“I usually throw up a couple posters,” Cherry said. “It’s a high school musical.”
Two days later, Harkin alongside Adrian Harries, the district’s director of diversity, equity and inclusion, said she met with more than 100 students who “spoke passionately and respectfully about their desire” to perform “The Prom.” Harkin first announced the district was reconsidering its postponement of the musical in a Monday statement posted to the district’s website.
One senior student, who identified himself as a member of the theater program and the LGBTQ+ community, said he wants to live in a world where he’s allowed to express himself through art. (The Tribune is not naming him because he is not an adult.)
“If we cancel things because we’re worried people will get upset, that could evolve very quickly into something dangerous — think book burnings or silencing people or Florida,” he said at the meeting. [quote of the day! "Or Florida!"]
School board member Nancy Zettler said even though Harkin made the decision to postpone the musical “out of love,” she said the district “failed” the LGBTQ+ community.
“Now we know that the community is ready. It is my hope, and I believe this wholeheartedly, we are going to be able to put together the safety plan that’s going to be necessary to make sure that this play can go on in April,” she said.
Frank Marino, 49, said he has two children at Hampshire High School involved in the musical. Marino said he watched “The Prom” on Netflix and recognized that many students see themselves represented in the film, especially those in the LGBTQ+ community like his son.
“Did it ever occur to this board or the administration, when you told the students that the community was not ready for a production like ‘The Prom’ that maybe some of those students heard the community was not ready for them,” he added. “The idea of taking away this production from those kids due to potential actions of a small few is incomprehensible.”
Arkansas State legislator threatens to block $10M in state grants for Arkansas libraries associated with American Library AssociationState Senator Dan Sullivan
paywalled
https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2...
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds actually says something halfway truthful/'We are way off course': Gov. Reynolds' passionate response to controversy over school book restrictions
"We are way off course. Our kids and our teachers deserve better, they deserve the tools to help these kids succeed, not a d--n distraction on a nasty p----ic book that should never, ever be in a classroom," Reynolds said.
Reynolds went into detail about the specifics of the law, arguing that people misunderstand the definition of a s-ex- act and read it aloud to prove the continual confusion was unfounded.
"I think it's pretty clear, and if they can't distinguish that maybe we ought to take a look at what they should be dealing with," Reynolds said. "It's just a distraction and ... they're blowing it out of proportion."
However, other parts of the law have left schools wondering if the rules extend to LGBTQ+ topics. Urbandale schools previously said they understood the law to include books relating to gender identity and sexual orientation.
Reynolds' comments did not seem to provide any clarity to schools. Johnston and Des Moines Public Schools said they will continue their approach as planned.
The Department of Education said they will not provide guidance to schools until they begin the rule-making process on Dec. 28. Schools must be in compliance before Jan. 1.
https://www.kcci.com/article/kim-reyn...
However, she created the problem by signing into a bill banning LGBTQ instruction in grades K-6, school books that aren't 'age appropriate'
https://www.kcci.com/article/governor...
Mod
https://globalnews.ca/news/10053416/k...
Finally, someone has compiled ALL the banned and challenged books into ONE database. I haven't been able to keep up so I'm thrilled this resource exists.and other news from Literary Activism
https://literaryactivism.substack.com...
Most books are only banned in one or two places. Of the 1,557 titles on the list, 1,202 were banned once. That is, 77% of all book bans at U.S. schools in the 2022-2023 school year happened at a single school.
Out of the 1,557, only 70 books were banned 10 or more times. Only 4% of the books in the last school year were banned 10 or more times. A total of 161 books have been banned at three to nine schools — that's 10% of banned books. So, we're up to 14% of the books banned in school districts last year being banned at 3 or more schools.
In Miami-Dade schools, parent permission a must for students who want to attend book fairsThe website allows parents to get previews of the books for future purchasing.
In the form, a parent agrees to:
“Discuss with my child the content of any books they purchase that I feel may be inappropriate for them” and “gives the ability to “return any books to the book fair that I do not feel are appropriate for my child.”
No signature means a student cannot attend the Scholastic Book Fair.
https://www.local10.com/news/local/20...
Very sad. What about kids whose parents/grandparents don't read English? Kids whose parents work while the kids go to a large scale day care facility? By the time they get home, the kids will forget.
Last month the Escondido Union School District (San Diego County, California) shut down all libraries at its 23 elementary and middle school campuses for more than a week after it received a complaint from a middle-school parent about one book.The district removed that book — plus one more book after conducting an internal review — without telling parents the books’ titles.
This Book Is Gay
Looking for Alaska
“Unfortunately, it came to my attention that a book containing s___ly explicit material was in one of our school libraries,” Escondido Superintendent Luis Rank-Ibarra told parents in an email last month. “As an elementary district that serves students from PK to 8th grade, we are committed to not introducing inappropriate material to our students.”
The district’s library technicians were going to conduct a “thorough audit” of its book collection, Ibarra told families in the September email, before reopening libraries a week and a half later.
After the audit, the district removed one more book from school libraries, the district revealed in response to questions by the Union-Tribune: Looking for Alaska, a coming-of-age novel by John Green geared toward high schoolers that tied for the fifth-most challenged book in America last year.
A parent of a 13-year-old eighth-grader at Bear Valley Middle School submitted the complaint to the Escondido school board and superintendent about This Book Is Gay.
The parent demanded the book “be banned from all school libraries,” saying they were “utterly disgusted and saddened” that their son was exposed to what they called “explicit p____phic material.”
“Some might say ‘freedom of speech,’ however, by allowing this kind of exposure to children, this school has canceled the rights of these young children to be children, and my rights as a parent to guide my children regarding such things,” the parent wrote.
“This also goes directly against our Christian beliefs as a family,” the parent added. “These books, quite frankly, should not be in any school library.”
Under the district’s policy, Escondido is supposed to form a 12-member committee to review challenges to a library book or other instructional materials. That committee is supposed to have six parents, three teachers, a principal, a district curriculum administrator and a school library technician.
That committee could then resolve the matter with the complainant individually without removing the material from other students or teachers, such as by providing a “reasonable alternative” for the complainant’s child.
The Escondido review committee could also recommend to the school board that a book be removed entirely. But it couldn’t vote on its own to remove the book, according to the policy.
“Challenged materials will be removed from usage by a class, school or the district only upon the approval of the superintendent and board and only after a careful review has been completed,” the district’s rules say.
Escondido did not form a review committee, the district told the Union-Tribune.
https://web.archive.org/web/202310211...
Also in California, Chino Hills School library book pulling debated but not decided
Chino Hills resident Jim Gallagher, who attends every board meeting, pointed out that the district has a well-established policy to look over books with questionable content.
“We already have a good policy in place,” he said. “Let’s follow it and stop messing around.”
Board member James Na said he was shocked to hear the language. “It wasn’t only shocking but truly disgusting,” he said. “If this was really from one of our junior highs or high schools, I feel so ashamed.”
He added, “This is not a book banning. This is trash, it’s not a book. It does not belong on a shelf, it belongs in a trash can.”
Brenda Walker, president of the Associated Chino Teachers (ACT) addressed the board at the beginning of the meeting, surrounded by more than a dozen teachers or ACT members, stating that a single complaint under the new policy could result in a book being permanently banned from every library in the district.
“We are heartbroken to envision all the books and learning and reading that comes with them that will be held hostage and removed from our libraries and classrooms,” she said.
Ms. Walker said ACT has notified the board and superintendent of the potential illegality of the policy and that it likely violates the U.S. Constitution.
Board member Don Bridge said he would like to request that board president Sonja Shaw, who proposed the policy, accompany him to visit some of the school libraries, pull the books from the shelves, and open them to the exact pages read by the parents.
“I want to see what these people are talking about,” he said. “It’s not that I don’t trust them, but I have to see it for myself.”
School board member Jon Monroe said, “Mr. Gallagher actually made an eloquently put statement that we already have a policy in place, Administrative Regulation 1312, that regulates books.”
“In light of this issue, has that process even been put to work?” Mr. Monroe asked. “Is it a failed process that we’re looking to replace? Is there any data on that?”
Mr. Monroe suggested that the district find out the answers to these questions before moving forward on changing a policy.
He asked staff to find out how many parents have made complaints in the past and what is the process to review those books. “If we can get some answers at the next meeting, I would appreciate it.”
Mrs. Shaw said the district has a policy in place, but it does not address sexually explicit language.
“I think that’s why our libraries were open to these books getting in there,” she said.
After the meeting, Mr. Bridge said he doesn’t believe the policy needs to have language that specifically refers to s____ally explicit content. “The policy is structured in such a way that teachers and parents can pull a book that is found to be objectionable.”
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California has an anti-book banning bill but you wouldn't know it to listen to these people.https://thesungazette.com/article/new...
VISALIA – Various community members turned out to Visalia Unfied’s Board of Education meeting to express their displeasure that committees and the district decided not to ban 13 books that were challenged last month. They also bemoaned the lack of transparency in the process all together.
“This decision is disappointing to many in the community that are very concerned with the s---ally explicit content in these books; books that continue to be freely accessible to minors in both the VUSD middle schools and high schools,” community member Crystal Reynolds said during the Tuesday, Oct. 17 meeting.
During public comment, these community members read excerpts from the recently challenged books that they, themselves, considered inappropriate for students. Reynolds, who confirmed at the meeting that she was the community member who challenged the 13 books that were recently put under review, explained she first became concerned when, of the 19 books she initially challenged, only 13 were submitted for review.
Not only that, but from Reynolds’ account, many of the community members were disappointed to hear that the 13 books would remain in the libraries of local high schools and middle schools.
“The policy leaves challengers and concerned citizens without the ability to participate, without representation and with a tremendous lack of transparency,” Reynolds said.
Reynolds took issue with the fact that there are no minutes or public recordings of the meetings of the committees, the fact that the meetings are confidential and – because the committees have four VUSD staff members on each committee – there is doubt that the concerns of community members are being heard.
“How do we know that seven-member committees were actually set up for all 13 books? How do we know that 13 books and excerpts were fully examined, if at all?” Reynolds said. “It is concerning that the policy does not include any participation from that of our elected school board members.”
According to VUSD’s challenged book policy (AR 6163.1), the district’s challenged book committees are made up of seven well-rounded individuals, which consists of appropriate staff – which can be district administrative staff, school-site administrators and/or faculty members – as well as local community members.
Once a book is challenged, VUSD’s superintendent – who is chosen by the elected board of education – or director of Library of Media Services determines if the book must undergo review; if so, a committee is established for each book that is subject to review.
also shared his concerns during public comment, starting his comment with an excerpt from the book “Out of Darkness."
“This is what’s in the libraries at the high school,” Warrington said. “I would ask that you do as Crystal asks and change your policy and get rid of these books.”
Another community member, Marilyn Malloy, explained that she was also disappointed that the committees did not remove the books challenged by Reynolds. She explained that she originally encouraged Reynolds to challenge the books, stating that it was a good thing that the school had a policy to ban inappropriate material from the library.
“(I told her) she should engage the process and trust that it would produce the correct result,” Malloy said. “The process has now run its course, and I am now questioning whether or not that was good advice.”
Malloy went on to say that it is hard for her to believe that the material in question was deemed appropriate for kids. She also expressed she found it “curious” that out of the 13 different book committees, not one book was removed from the library.
“Although the district has a clear process for review, the lack of transparency leaves concerned parents and community members with several questions,” Malloy said.
She explained her main concerns regarding the policy were that the school board has little to no say over the outcome of the committees, the lack of transparency and confidentiality of the committees, and the potential lack of representation in the committees.
Malloy did note Erika Hawkyard’s, The Source LGBT+ Center’s program director, presence on two challenged book committees, but said there is no public knowledge of if “the faith community was represented as well.”
However, in accordance with VUSD’s challenged book policy, the identities of committee members are selected from volunteers and their identities are kept confidential – as is the identity of the individuals who decide to challenge a book.
In another point made during the meeting’s public comment, community member Cassie Peterson explained she believes removing books from the library is about showing discretion and respecting the community’s values.
“Books are good tools for parents to help teach their children how to behave,” Peterson said. “As parents, we must be vigilant about what our children are exposed to, and their education.”
However, in her past interview with The Sun-Gazette, Hawkyard – who has a Master’s Degree in library and information science and is also a former librarian – explained most children seek out content that is within their maturity level and has characters they can relate to.
Not only that, she also said libraries are democratic institutions where parents, librarians and kids should be able to discuss the needs of the child, as well as figure out what is appropriate for them without making that the standard for all children.
“I think we’re putting responsibility for what is (considered) a parental issue, onto a school library,” Hawkyard said in her previous interview with The Sun-Gazette.
Additionally, according to a previous statement from VUSD, if a parent does not wish for their child to be exposed to any certain material, there is a process that allows the district to accommodate this request without costing the district time and resources to review a challenged book.
Still, many of the community members seem to reiterate that their own wishes to keep these out of the hands of high school students should be community-wide.
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State officials disagree with Kentucky school district removing library books based on new law
Boyle County Schools removed over 100 books from its libraries in recent months under its interpretation of Senate Bill 150. Now, the Kentucky Department of Education says the new law does not apply to school libraries. Boyle County Superintendent Mark Wade told the Herald-Leader Wednesday that books in his district were removed from school libraries based on Kentucky’s new law Senate Bill 150. He cited part of the law that states: “Any child, regardless of grade level, enrolled in the district does not receive any instruction or presentation that has a goal or purpose of students studying or exploring gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation.”
The controversial Republican-backed SB 150 was approved over Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s veto. It bans gender-affirming health care for transgender minors, restricts classroom teachings on gender and sexuality, prohibits districts and schools from asking teachers and staff to use a trans student’s pronouns, and mandates districts create policies that prevent trans students from using restrooms that align with their gender identity. KDE spokesperson Toni Konz Tatman said Wednesday morning that
“SB 150 does not provide for the removal of library media resources from a school library.” If the library media resources are not used for a course, curriculum or program on human sexuality or sexually transmitted diseases, the law does not apply, Tatman said.
If library media resources are associated with and used for a course, curriculum, or program on human sexuality, the school district should provide an alternative without penalty for students and be subject to parent inspection and notification, she said. Tatman said she is not aware of school districts in Kentucky other than Boyle that have removed library books based on SB 150.
Shonna Storz, a parent of two children at Boyle County High School, told the Herald-Leader that Boyle County Schools removing books from the library in response to SB 150 was “very concerning.” She provided the Herald-Leader with a list of the books removed, which included titles like “Being LGBTQ” and “Anne Frank,” about the child who died during the Holocaust. “They are misinterpreting the law,” said Storz. “The law is very clearly about the act of instruction and the curriculum used in instruction. This is not a book ban. And yet they are reading it that way.” The library removed books from the libraries on topics ranging from sexual consent, teen pregnancy and parenting, gender equality, reproductive rights and LGBTQ rights, said Storz.
“I’m outraged that they’ve taken an incredibly conservative stance on this. These are challenging times for our youth and they deserve access to these reputable resources to be educated and informed on these important social and political issues,” Storz said. The books were removed shortly after the law went into effect earlier this year, said Storz. “A much larger number of books were initially removed,” she said. After parents spoke up at school board meetings, administrators went back through the list and put some books back, Storz said. The current list, which Storz received on September 20, contains 106 books.
After Tatman said SB 150 did not provide for the removal of school library books, Wade responded: “In school libraries, which operate differently than a public library, materials are instructional resources. Upon review with legal counsel, KDE and district leadership, a small percentage of books were removed because they did not align with the curriculum or standards being taught.” Wade said the district reviewed current courses, programming, instructional resources and learning experiences to ensure compliance with SB 150. “School library media specialists, legal council and our district leadership team” were all involved, he said. “School libraries are instructional support entities within our school. As such, school libraries operate differently than a public library system,” Wade said. “This bill could continue to evolve. As a state public school, we are obligated to implement the law and we will respond if there are changes to the legislation.” The 2023 General Assembly also passed Senate Bill 5 which requires schools to adopt a complaint resolution policy for parents who allege that materials taught in school are harmful to minors.
Read more at: https://www.kentucky.com/news/local/e...