What books should Wake schools allow? Election could affect what stays and goes
The results of the upcoming Wake County school board election could lead to changes in what books are allowed in school libraries and classes.
Candidates for the Wake County school board were asked on a questionnaire from The News & Observer about how they would respond to calls to remove books from schools that some say are inappropriate for students. The responses revealed a sharp division among the candidates who hope to lead North Carolina’s largest school system.
You can read all the responses online in The N&O Voter Guide. All nine school board seats will be on the Nov. 8 ballot.
Several school board candidates charge that sexually explicit books have inappropriately been allowed in schools.
“Do you think it is appropriate to have books with pictures depicting fellatio and other sex acts available to children?” said Jackie Boegel, a candidate for the District 5 school board seat. “How would you define the innocence of a child and at what age should that innocence end, and who should be responsible for ending said child’s innocence?”
But school board members running for reelection and candidates with similar views say they trust the judgment of librarians and teachers to pick age-appropriate books.
“Our librarians and teachers work hard to select appropriate materials for our students,” said school board chairwoman Lindsay Mahaffey, who is running for reelection to the District 8 seat. “The district has a process and procedure to review any materials someone finds objectionable, and the response to calls to remove books would be to follow that process.”
‘Pornographic’ books in schools?
The fight over what books should be allowed in schools has become a national issue. Protesters have come to school board meetings in Wake and across the nation accusing schools of trying to “sexualize” and “groom” students.
Michele Morrow, a candidate for the District 9 school board seat, was among nine people who filed criminal complaints last December accusing the school district of violating obscenity laws.
“The district should uphold the obscenity laws of NC and respect the authority of parents,” Morrow said in her questionnaire. “They should connect with organizations who have researched and found potentially damaging content promoting sexual promiscuity and violence and share that information with parents to protect our students.”
Speakers have read excerpts at board meetings to try to show that the contested books are too graphic for students. Books such as “Gender Queer,” “Melissa” (previously published as “George”), “Out of Darkness” and “Lawn Boy” have been cited.
The Wake school board has rejected at least two book challenges. School board members have said that the books need to be viewed as a whole and not only on the sections that contain explicit language and scenes.
A new school board majority, or even two conservative members on the rotating three-member panels that hear book challenges, could lead to different outcomes.
“Some (books) are inappropriate in that they have pornographic material, either in writing and/or pictures,” said Monica Ruiz, a candidate for the District 2 school board seat. “These books should not be available in public schools.”
The term “pornographic” is mentioned by several of the candidates.
“Any books or materials with erotic or pornographic pictures or language should be removed from WCPSS libraries,” said Steve Bergstrom, a candidate for the District 8 school board seat.
Book rating system
Some candidates want a system similar to what Moms for Liberty-Mecklenburg has proposed. Members of that conservative group recently met with Charlotte-Mecklenburg school leaders about creating a committee that would review controversial books and place age restrictions around them, The Charlotte Observer reported.
“If movies, TV and video games have rating systems for parents to decide appropriateness of content, perhaps it’s time to look at books in the same way,” said Wing Ng, a candidate for the District 3 school board seat.
Becky Lew-Hobbs, a candidate for the District 4 school board seat, said creating a rating system would help ensure parents can direct the moral upbringing of their children.
“To compare this to movie ratings, books with an ‘R rating’ should not be in a public-school library,” Lew-Hobbs said. “Books that are in school libraries should contribute to the education of our children.”
Activists creating ‘wedge issues’
But some candidates dispute the idea that it’s a grassroots, local effort to remove the books.
“If a truly age-inappropriate book has found its way into a school, sure, remove it,” said Doug Hammack, a candidate for the District 3 school board seat. “But that’s NOT what’s driving this current emphasis on book banning.
“There is a nationally organized attempt to find wedge issues and push them to the local level, to inflame people and influence elections. I think school boards should be about schools.”
School board vice chairman Chris Heagarty said he believes most of the effort to ban books is being fed by social media and that “no good has ever come from any society banning books.”
“If activists think that students looking for sexual gratification today are going to walk into a school library, read through 400 pages of wood pulp pages just to find 16 dirty words or a poorly drawn cartoon, they are living in the wrong century,” said Heagarty, who is running for reelection to the District 7 seat.
School board member Monika Johnson-Hostler cites a 1982 U.S. Supreme Court decision that limits schools’ discretion to remove books from libraries.
“Taking a historical view, there has never been a point in recorded history when banning books was later determined to have been a positive choice or done with the goal of promoting education and self-fulfillment,” said Johnson-Hostler, who is running for reelection to the District 2 seat.
Diverse book collections
Many of the books that have been questioned have prominently featured LGBTQ characters and people of color. LGBTQ students and their supporters have come to school board meetings to urge the district to continue to have inclusive books.
“It is important to keep the needs of students at the center of the work and support their growth and development through literature available in our schools that is historically accurate and reflective of our diverse study body,” said school board member Tara Waters, who is running to keep the District 4 seat she was appointed to fill.
School board candidate Lynn Edmonds said she’s trusting the professionalism and integrity of school librarians and media specialists.
“These are well-educated, qualified professionals capable of curating collections for our school libraries that are age-appropriate and reflect the diversity of our students,” said Edmonds, a candidate for the District 5 seat.
But school board candidate Jacob Arthur said he doesn’t believe schools need to have sexually explicit materials to make a student feel valuable.
“Our students are valuable because they are our children,” said Arthur, who is running for the District 7 seat. “Attempting to value students based on sexual preference, gender, ethnicity or any other attribute inherently devalues their worth as individuals.”
This story was originally published October 20, 2022 at 10:29 AM.
