Committee: Book is perfectly normal
Posted on Thursday, March 10, 2005
An appointed committee has ruled against a parent's complaint that a sex education book should be banned from the Fayetteville Public Schools' library system.
Instead," It's Perfectly Normal"by Robie Harris, a sex education book designed for pre-teens and young adolescents, will be allowed to stay on the shelves in the schools' parent libraries.
The book is currently available only through the parent library at Holt Middle School. It used to be in the general circulation at McNair Middle School, but that library's copy was lost.
Parent Laurie Taylor, who filed the complaint, spoke out against the book at a school board meeting on Feb. 24. She argued it was sexually explicit and shouldn't be available in a school library.
She also complained about two other books - "It's so Amazing,"also by Harris, and "The Teenage Guy's Survival Guide"by Jeremy Daldry - being available in school libraries.
Following Taylor's presentation at the meeting, board president Steve Percival said the school has a "process"to address some complaints and he suggested it be allowed to run its course.
The process for addressing library book complaints involves forming a "materials evaluation committee"to review the book and make a recommendation. In the case of "It's Perfectly Normal,"the committee ruled the book could remain as part of the parent library section for middle school and elementary students. No decision has been reached on the formal complaints against the other two books.
Parent libraries As part of a state education reform law passed two years ago, schools were required to set up "parent libraries"as a resource for library materials, McNair Middle School Librarian Sarah Thompson said.
How they are structured varies from school to school in Fayetteville.
At some schools, such as McNair, the parent library is simply a shelf among all the others that is labeled "parent library."Presumably, a student could look at the books on the shelf, but they could not check them out.
At other schools, the parent library is in its own room apart from the children's circulation. This is the case at Holt Middle School, according to Principal Mike Mason, who was one of the seven members of the materials evaluation committee.
The books in the parent library do not necessarily contain adult content, but often they deal with themes or issues that would be more relevant for parents, such as how to raise children and deal with problems, Thompson said.
Thompson said she has a diverse selection of books in her library, includng a few by Focus on the Family founder James Dobson. "If a child goes over there to look at a book, I'm not going to say, 'Stop!'"Thompson said.
Generally, only parents of a student at the school in question could check out a book there. Parents can also check out books available to students in the general circulation.
If parents want a book at another school library, their school library would generally submit an "inter-library loan"request from the other library, Thompson said.
For better or worse, Thompson and Mason said the parent libraries aren't utilized very much at their schools, though they've tried to make them known through school newsletters. Thompson said only two books have been checked out from the parent section in two years.
Addressing complaints
Librarians use an established process when deciding on books to purchase, which generally includes looking at reviews, the book's literary merit and other factors.
Occassionally, they do hear concerns from parents about a particular book, Thompson said. Most parents do not file formal written complaints, known as requests for reconsideration.
Superintendent Bobby New said he can only recall three previous instances of someone filing a complaint in his nine years as superintendent.
Thompson said the last one she can remember came up two years ago and was handled without much publicity. Mason said this was the first time he has personally been asked to serve on a materials evaluation committee.
On those occasions where parents decide to file a complaint, the libraries have a two-page form they can fill out.
Thompson said that even though the complaints are filed infrequently, she believes all district librarians are knowledgeable about the process and know how to direct complainants.
According to Mason, Taylor's complaint was technically filed at McNair Middle School, though it no longer has a copy of the book. This is in part because she has a child who attends McNair, not Holt.
Once a complaint is turned in at the building level, it is forwarded to the central administration office. An assistant superintendent at the office then appoints an administrative employee to form the committee. Taylor's complaint was recorded as being received Feb. 16, eight days before the school board meeting at which she spoke. In this case, as has been done in the past, gifted and talented education director Barbara Prichard was charged with heading up and forming the committee.
The committee After the complaint is made, the district appoints a seven-member committee consisting of a central administrative recommendation, a principal, two classroom teachers, two parents and a "materials specialist."The policy also allows for a student to serve when it is deemed "appropriate."Thompson speculated a student representative would most likely be chosen if an issue arose for upper grades such as the high school or junior high.
Prichard said that when forming a committee, she tries to select administrators, teachers and parents who represent the age group of the school library in question.
The building principals normally recommend a parent to participate.
Besides Prichard and Mason, the central and building administration representatives, the committee that evaluated "It's Perfectly Normal"consisted of Rhonda Prenger, a McNair parent; Missy Barnes, a Holt parent; Deborah Santeford, a library media specialist for Holt; Rozanne Weideman, a McNair teacher and Pat Storey, a Holt teacher.
Each committee member received a copy of the book to read along with copies of some literary reviews and was charged with reading them, Mason said.
They then met late last week to review their findings and evaluate 23 questions Prichard developed to answer Taylor's complaints. Among her objections were the book's explicit pictures and that it encourages children to experiment "both heterosexually and homosexually."
The review process Upon hearing that her complaint had been rejected, Taylor said she was shocked that the committee's findings were in total agreement. "I find it hard to believe that seven people agreed unanimously on 23 points,"she said. According to Mason, though, there was a lot of discussion that led up to those unanimous findings. The committee met from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the day of the meeting and had a working lunch. "In the discussion, we had a broad range of views,"he said. "There was a lot of time and energy spent on this."
Mason said he stayed up late the night before reading the book and he believed everyone on the committee acted professionally and took their task seriously. "We wanted to make sure we knew what we were talking about,"he said. "I think everybody left feeling like we'd done our job and had done the best job we could. ... There was a lot of hard discussion.... They worked really hard to come to a fair decision."
There were times it seemed the committee was close to having a mixed vote on some questions, but through the discussion, they were able to reach an agreement on multiple questions regarding the book's content, Mason said.
The findings Some members of the committee recommended that the book should only be available in the parent libraries at middle schools and elementary schools. The recommendation did say the book could be housed in general circulation the junior high libraries, but they do not currently have copies of it.
As an exception to the middle schools, the committee said the book could be checked out by students if an educator believed it would be in the student's interest and if a counselor or administrator backed the recommendation.
The committee felt like there was some information in "It's Perfectly Normal"that might be helpful to a middle school student in certain circumstances, Mason said. "There was an excellent section on sexual abuse,"he noted.
To address this, the committee decided a student could check out the book if two adults at the school agreed.
The committee's other findings included:
• "The book does not accomplish a purpose'to perpetuate sexual immorality, to entice young children to experiment both heterosexually and homosexually. '"
• "The text, verbage, definition and explanations are of an accurate, factual and informative nature."
• "The text discussion of masturbation is a factual one and does not constitute the encouragement of masturbation. However, the illustrations could make some readers uncomfortable."
• "The text discussion of abortion does not promote abortion but explains it from both a pro-choice and prolife viewpoint."Taylor said she disagreed with the findings as to how the book covers the issues of homosexuality, masturbation and abortion. Other findings included that the book's illustrations do accurately represent the written text but some people may consider them too graphic. The findings also state," The materials selection committee represents the right of the parent to guide, direct and/or restrict their student's reading choices; however, this is not a right that translates to making a choice for the students of other parents. Therefore, the book should not be withdrawn from access for all students."
Taylor's reaction There is no process outlined for appealing the committee's ruling, but Taylor said she was unhappy with the ruling and said," There will be a next step. I'm not sure exactly what that will be."
She said it is hard to believe the seven committee members could unanimously agree on the 23 points of discussion. It might be easier to accept, she said, if there had been some mixed results on the findings. "I absolute refute almost every one of these (findings),"she said.
If people want to review the books, they should get them from a public library or a bookstore, she said, insisting they are not appropriate for school.
Taylor conducted an online search for "It's Perfectly Normal"after she received a letter from Point of View, a Christian radio group that opposes the book's use in school libraries.
She said she found out about "It's So Amazing"and "The Teenage Guy's Survival Guide"on her own. "The whole thing is not just about the book. It's about the overall lack of parental authority over my children at school,"she said. "For me and my family, this material is not appropriate. There is no place for this at school."
Taylor said it should be the school's responsibility to "censor itself."No one knew this book was available until she researched the matter, she said. She also argued that the book's stance on sexual conduct lies in the face of the school's position of neutrality on political issues. Abortion, homosexuality, etc., are all "politically controversial things."
The other books Prichard is again overseeing the committees that will evaluate "The Teenage Guy's Survival Guide"and "It's So Amazing." "Survival Guide"is available in the regular circulation for students at Holt and McNair middle schools. "It's So Amazing"is availabe for students to check out at Holt and at the Butterfield, Root, Holcomb and Washington elementary schools. Prichard said she is still waiting on copies of those books that have been ordered for the appointed committee to review. Taylor filed the complaint on those books as well, along with parent Kathleen Letherby.
Checking out books Taylor said one aspect to the committee's findings that particularly concerns her is the book possibly being available for students to check out from the junior highs.
She fears students in lower grades might put in an online request to borrow the book through inter-library loan and still have access to it.
Thompson disagrees with that notion. When a request is filed online, a librarian on both ends still has to approve it.
It is likely such a request would be denied because the librarian on the receiving end would deem the book as inappropriate for the lower age group. She cited a separate example of another book some students at her school have occassionally requested from the high school library. Thompson said she has used her professional judgement to deny the request. "If it's not recommended for middle school students, we typically don't borrow it,"she said.
What's Next? New said he sees no reason not to follow the committee's recommendation for "It's Perfectly Normal."Considering the work involved that the committee performed, he would have to have a "compelling"reason not to.
One irony for those filing the complaint is that in order to evaluate the book, the school has to have sufficient number of copies for the committee members. In effect, the complaints can prompt more copies to be ordered.
In the past, the committee has had enough copies of questioned books available that it did not have to order extras. In this case, the district had to order six copies of "It's Perfectly Normal."
The committee members' copies of the book were turned into Prichard following the review. She said no administrative decision has been made on what to do with them. "I don't know. We haven't addressed that,"she said.
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