Fort Bend ISD trustees convened Wednesday night to weigh potential alterations to the district’s book review policy after voting to delay action on proposed revisions and tabling conversations on the measure during an April board meeting. During Wednesday’s workshop meeting, Darcey Pett, an Austin Parkway Elementary 2023-2024 teacher of the...
Newly elected board president Kristin Tassin, seated by trustees David Hamilton and Angie Hanan, moderated Wednesday's workshop.Fort Bend ISD trustees convened Wednesday night to weigh potential alterations to the district’s book review policy after voting to delay action on proposed revisions and tabling conversations on the measure during an April board meeting.
“Our educators and campus librarians are trustworthy experts in their fields. They’re trained professionals with a deep understanding of child development and educational needs,” Pett said. “Please trust us to do the jobs we were hired to do and give more educators and librarians a seat at the table.
“This is vital for preserving parental rights,” Wierzbicki, who voiced her opposition to the revisions, said. “I think most parents in this district would appreciate having a voice.” These committees then determine whether to keep, limit access to or take titles off library or classroom shelves based on this evaluation. Once a decision is made about a book, the individual who filed the challenge can accept the choice or appeal it to the board.
Tassin then told those at the workshop that she wanted to clarify the superintendent's role as outlined by the proposed alterations. She explained that the board would delegate the authority to Smith, who could exercise his power directly or convene a reconsideration committee to help inform him of his decisions regarding challenged titles.
The district conducted one of these audits on graphic novels, removing roughly 70 books, in 2023. The next section to be evaluated is the district’s fiction collections. Tassin noted that if approved, the process they were establishing was for constituents and community members. Tassin indicated that anybody could take advantage of it, including trustees, but that under no circumstance should board members be able to go to Smith directly to tell him a book needed to be removed., Hamilton himself submitted all 35 requests filed this year.
Moms for Liberty is a national organization with local chapters that promotes book bans in school libraries, endorses school board candidates who reflect the group’s conservative values and advocates against content that features the LGBTQ community or references critical race theory. While Tassin remained on the topic of feedback regarding reconsideration committees, comments made by recently elected trustee Adam Schoof, who serves on the policy committee with Hamilton and trustee Angie Hanan, veered toward concentrating on content, too.
Superintendent Dr Marc Smith Trustee David Hamilton Book Bans
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