A parent from Kansas complained about books having unsafe content for kids and the school district reportedly acted on it by sending a memo to school libraries to pull them out.
Newsweek said the unnamed parent went to Goddard Public Schools District and complained in finding objectionable language in the book "The Hate U Give," a young adult novel released in 2017 on results of a Black teenager being killed by police. The said parent later on returned to the district officials with a list of 29 books that should be reviewed for its content.
Goddard Public Schools Academic Affairs Assistant Superintendent Julie Cannizzo then sent an email recently on the 29 books that are pending review from removal in school libraries' circulation. She said that a committee is being assembled to "rate the content of the books on the list." The district's selection process for putting books in the libraries would also be subject to review.
Cannizzo clarified that the books will not be removed yet until the review process has been completed since they "are in the process of gathering more information" about it.
"At this time, the district is not in a position to know if the books contained on this list meet our educational goals or not. Additionally, we need to gain a better understanding of the processes utilized to select books for our school libraries."
In an interview with KMUW, Cannizzo clarified that the books are not banned yet and reiterated that they are still under review..
"We're not banning these books or anything like that as a district. It was just brought to our attention that a list of books may have content that's unsuitable for children."
Cannizzo cited the Goddard School District 2016 policy that outlines the process regarding books and instructional materials being complained for its content. The said policy states that "challenged materials shall not be removed from use during the review period."
Accordingly, the list includes two novels by Margaret Atwood, which are"The Handmaid's Tale" and "The Testament"; a novel by Toni Morrison, "The Bluest Eye"; and Stephen Chbosky's "The Perks of Being A Wallflower" besides Angie Thomas' "The Hate U Give." Also included are August Wilson's "Fences," a Pulitzer Prize-winning play, among others.
Last month, a mother, Nicole Solas, reported her kindergarten child's school, the North Kingstown High School, to the police for making available to minors Maia Kobabe's "Gender Queer: A Memoir" that graphically depicts pornographic scenes including homosexual sexual acts.
Solas reported to the police, because unlike the unnamed parent from Kansas, the Fairfax County ignored her complaint on it in September during the school board meeting. The school board, through its chair Stella Pekarsky defended that only "high school students" are able to access it.
Interestingly, "Gender Queer: A Memoir" is one of the books backed by prominent organizations Young Adult Library Services Association of Illinois and School Library Journal of New York to be read by kids in school libraries. The said organizations recommended the books for reading in all school libraries in the country.
Texas Representative Matt Krause, in a move to safeguard reading materials of children against ideologies on race, gender, and sexuality, have provided public school officials with a list of 850 books for investigation. Krause reportedly asked the school officials with an inventory of the number of copies of the books in the list they possess, as well as, the books locations and the cost of its purchase.
