Book Restrictions
Upcoming meeting
Normally, the school board does not meet in December. But they will be meeting this coming Monday, December 9th at 6pm to consider restricting access to 5 books:
- Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
- Field Guide to the American Teenager
- Speak
- Perks of Being a Wallflower
- Where the Crawdads Sing
These same 5 books were considered last June as well and the board voted 8-2 to keep the books. Here is a link to that vote: https://x.com/murribu/status/1670961833178439680
I believe this meeting is being held due to a development in the lawsuit that parents represented by Gino Bulso have brought against our schools. Click here for more info.
Lisa Carson represents the school district in these lawsuits. She spearheaded the effort to draft a policy to deal with book challenges earlier this year. In the context of adopting that policy, she told the board in June of this year, "How you respond to [book challenges] will impact whether or not I will able to successfully defend. Because if decisions are made to pick and choose based on whether or not you like the message in the book, then that becomes extremely problematic." She then encouraged the board to ask for a declaratory order from the state government for guidance on how they should apply the law in the case of questionable challenges. To see this conversation, click here
Call to action
If you care whether the board restricts these books, please email them. Also, come join me on Monday night to watch the vote in person.