Book Scrutiny Continues From Public at LGISD Board Meetings
Monday night’s La Grange ISD board of trustees meeting brought more commentary on the concern for the content of the books both in the library and those that are on the lists to be purchased.
Two individuals spoke during the comments from the public on non-agenda items.
Jeremy Janda spoke of the concern that the content of some of the books violates the student code of conduct. He told the board that of the 195 books on the grade 7-12 library list that was approved last month, 10 of those that he read had vulgar language and/or sexually explicit content. He said, “If you can’t read these books aloud in class without getting fired or suspended, then these books do not belong in our school libraries.”
Pam Giese told the board, “I feel pretty sure that Jeremy Janda is an inconvenience to the school administration. However, without Mr. Janda’s watchdog efforts, I, the general public, and I think many of you would have no idea our school has purchased books with the kind of language and the sexual conduct described by Mr. Janda at the last school board meeting. The content of the books he disclosed was disturbing. If sounding such a loud alarm prevents these kinds of books from being accessible to our children, he has provided a most beneficial benefit to our school system.” She went on to say “I would urge this school board to ensure that Mr. Janda has access to all our school libraries so that he can view the books that are available to our students. Without that access, the school board’s policy on transparency seems to be only words.”
Three individuals spoke during the comments from the public on agenda items.
Jeff Parker told the board that is seems that the process of approving books for purchase is broken and unworkable. He went on to say that “Rather than fighting this out at the individual book level, there should be more input to the board from your delegates about how the books were chosen. (It seems) they are chosen mainly from outside influences – from being on a list.” He went on to say, “The board needs to know: Why is this on the list? What pedagogical purpose does it serve? Is there a controversial topic, and if so, what side? Is that balanced?” He then added, “Well, why should you care? Two words – school choice. School choice is headed for Texas. Fayette County is a conservative Christian county. When parents and clergy educate our children to Christian principles, we are very sensitive to having them indoctrinated elsewhere. As we come down to funding issues of various sorts, including school choice, there would be the question of what should LGISD do about it? My suggestion to the board is, you should compete. You should become known in Fayette County as a school district that aligns with the conservative Christian principles of the county and does not steer children into the ways of the world.”
Jeremy Janda spoke again at this time as well. “In the January school board meeting, Mr. McHazlett said that there were seven books that had been pulled for review. I have been told that there are currently nine books that have been pulled, pending review. Those nine do not include “Violet and Claire” (from the seven mentioned at the January meeting.) The three additional books are “Asking for It,” “Time Bomb,” and “Salvage the Bones.” So, my question is, where is Violet and Claire, and what was the ruling on it.” He mentioned that there is no indication on the website as to what books, if any, have been removed from circulation. He stated, “I understand that the committee hasn’t ruled on any books yet, but where do we find the list of books pending review?” He concluded with, “I am really confused by why we are so wrapped up in ordering hundreds of books every month when we haven’t cleaned up what we currently have in our library.”
Pam Giese had additional comments, “According to the policy for the purchase of books, the board is given a list of requested books. The board and the public have 30 days to review. I was told there were more than 100 books each month for consideration. Unless there is an objection, every book on the list is automatically approved for purchase. I question how this board can possibly have the time to review that number of books. This would lead me to believe that there is no actual board review of the books that are being purchased. With this many books, I would also ask a question – Are the ones requesting the books actually reviewing any of the books, or are they just rubber-stamping some organization’s recommendations? … For the sake of the students, we need to come up with something that is more protective.”
There was no action taken on book purchases at this meeting.