Wake school board rejects book challenge. Parent called book sexually explicit.
The Wake County school board has rejected a parent’s request to remove a young adult novel from Cary High School’s library that contains profanity and sexually explicit content.
“Out of Darkness” by Ashley Hope Perez depicts the love affair between a Mexican-American teenage girl and an African American teenage boy leading up to the 1937 school gas explosion in New London, Texas, that killed roughly 300 people.
A school board panel voted 3-0 on Thursday to allow “Out of Darkness” to remain in Cary High’s library, citing a “full reading” of the book and how students aren’t required to read the historical novel.
The vote came during a short 14-minute meeting, with much of it occurring behind closed doors to consult with an attorney. The panel consisted of board chairwoman Lindsay Mahaffey, vice chairman Chris Heagarty and board member Heather Scott.
“This isn’t anything assigned to any child,” Heagarty said during the brief open-session discussion. “It’s only available in the media center.”
It was the second time since March that the board has upheld a decision by Cary High to allow a challenged book to remain in its library. The book challenges come at a time when parents across the nation, including in Wake County, have held protests over what they’ve called pornographic material being available in school libraries.
But supporters of those books note that it’s often material featuring LGBTQ characters and people of color that are being targeted. They argue that the books in school libraries should reflect diverse perspectives.
‘Unelected librarians’
Chad Slotta, a parent at Cary High and a Republican candidate for the U.S. House District 13 seat, had requested that “Out of Darkness” be removed. Slotta attended the hearing Thursday with his wife.
“It’s incredibly disappointing that parents are being kept out of these decisions,” Slotta said in an interview. “It seems as though unelected librarians and other officials are stepping between parents and their children’s education, and now it’s been ratified by our school board.”
Slotta said it doesn’t matter whether the book is required reading. He said including it in the library is an “implicit recommendation” to students to read the book.
He had also challenged “Lawn Boy” by Jonathan Evision, citing that book’s profanity and sexually explicit content. A different school board panel voted in March to reject Slotta’s challenge of “Lawn Boy” at Cary High.
In both cases, review committees formed by Cary High upheld keeping the books with a district advisory committee recommending supporting the school’s decision. Slotta then went to the board for the final decision on the challenge.
In January, the Orange County school board voted to keep three challenged books, including “Out of Darkness” and “Lawn Boy” in school libraries, The News & Observer previously reported.
Tale of ‘forbidden love’
“Out of Darkness” has won multiple awards and drawn praise for telling the story of diverse characters set during racially segregated times.
“The star-crossed lovers desperately hope that any light can penetrate the black smoke cloud of darkness spreading around them,” according to Kirkus Reviews, a book review magazine. “A powerful, layered tale of forbidden love in times of unrelenting racism.”
The book doesn’t shy away from the racial tensions of the time period. The School Library Journal’s review says “this book presents a range of human nature, from kindness and love to acts of racial and sexual violence” and “gives voice to many long-omitted facets of U.S. history.”
But “Out of Darkness” has been removed from some schools in other states because of questions about its profanity and sexually explicit content.
In his challenge, Slotta says the book contains scenes of forced sex and sexualization of youth. Slotta, a former pastor, also charges that the book degrades Christianity.
‘Sexualization of children’
In January, a Cary High review committee that included the principal, an assistant principal, two teachers, two parents, a school counselor and the library media coordinator unanimously voted to keep the book in the library. The district’s letter to Slotta cited how the committee said the book wasn’t assigned reading.
In February, Wake’s Central Instructional Materials Advisory Committee voted 6-1 to recommend upholding Cary High’s decision. According to the meeting minutes, the committee said the book “is not pervasively vulgar, educationally unsuitable, or inappropriate to age, maturity, or grade level of the students.”
Only Drew Cook, assistant superintendent of academics, voted not to recommend keeping the book in the library. According to the minutes, Cook said the book may not be appropriate for some 14 or 15-year-old students absent some form of parental notification.
Slotta decided to appeal to the board, paving the way for Thursday’s decision.
“Exposing them to obscene, sexually explicit, and pornographic material harms their physical and emotional health by normalizing the sexualization of children and stealing their innocence,” Slotta wrote in a letter requesting the book to review the challenge.
“Parents, not literary critics, should decide what and how our children are taught — especially with regard to human sexuality and sexual expression
This story was originally published April 28, 2022 at 10:39 AM.
