Hempfield Area continues debate on change to curriculum review of challenged books

A policy related to evaluating course material soon could be changed even as Hempfield Area School Board members remain split over the best way to proceed.

The monthslong conversation, which began in March when a small group of parents challenged two books available to high school students, continued this week after the district’s policy committee determined it needed further input from the board before proceeding with any changes.

Following Monday’s discussion, members of the policy committee seemed poised to further discuss the possibility of tweaking the makeup of a committee that reviews challenged materials and possibly adding an appeals process. A policy committee meeting scheduled for Wednesday was canceled. A new date has not been set.

“It’s important for us to know (your opinion) because we’re operating in the dark if we don’t know what the board would like to see us develop,” Director Jeanne Smith said.

Over the past several months, some parents have questioned “All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George M. Johnson, which chronicles Johnson’s journey growing up as a queer Black boy. Parents also questioned “The Black Friend: On Being a Better White Person” by Frederick Joseph, which reflects the author’s experiences with racism.

A formal complaint was filed against the books, both of which went through the review process laid out in the policy.

That means a committee — made up of the school librarian, the library department chair, a teacher selected based on the content area of the book, a parent, a student, the complainant, the assistant superintendent and the superintendent — read the books and then met and reviewed each text using a series of questions from the policy.

It was ultimately determined the books could remain available to students.

Despite that determination, some parents continued to push for a change while suggesting those books are not appropriate for students.

After hearing the opinions of several parents and former students, board members gave their input on the situation and whether they felt changes were necessary.

“I found that material offensive, and it didn’t have to do with a Black person, it didn’t have to do with straight sex, gay sex, just sexually explicit material that our children have (access) to,” said school Director Jennifer Bretz. “I found that offensive. I’m appalled by the judgment of the individuals who decided that the material should be available for access in our facility. … I personally would like to see the policy changed.”

Bretz suggested several changes, including revising committee membership to include school directors and community members not employed by the district, review the selection process of potentially controversial materials, reviewing the policy every 24 months and adding an appeals process, among others.

“We can recalibrate the existing policy to ensure outcomes that are thoughtful and appropriate in each situation,” Bretz said.

Board president Tony Bompiani suggested that changing the committee makeup could make the process more fair.

“I hear people speaking to the book and saying you’re limiting my children from being able to access this book,” Bompiani said. “Well, you’re allowing other children whose parents don’t want them to access this book to access the book. So both sides are arguing on this, and there is a way to find some common ground.”

School director Paul Ward said he did not have an immediate solution to the problem but suggested looking at how library books are chosen.

For school director Mike Alfery, it boils down to common sense.

“If you’re a librarian and you see a book that could be controversial, and you review that book and there’s nudity and what could be construed as nudity and pornography, you’ve got to stop and say, ‘Wait a minute, this might cause me some issues,’ ” Alfery said.

Others took a different stance.

School director Vince DeAugustine said he is comfortable with the policy as it stands, and suggested there are bigger issues the board should be focused on.

Similarly, director Diane Ciabattoni was hesitant to make any changes that would lead to banning a book.

“I understand that parents want to make sure that they’re teaching their children what are their ethics and what they believe,” Ciabattoni said. “I would like to look deeper into the committee, but I am very concerned about eliminating books just because I may not like them or I may not agree with them.”

Community input

During Monday’s meeting, 15 parents and former students spoke on the topic, expressing opinions on both sides of the argument.

Several parents called “All Boys Aren’t Blue” sexually explicit and compared a passage from the book to pornography.

“Our morals have been torn down to the point of being unrecognizable,” said Heather Abraham. “These books should not have a foothold in our children’s lives. We as parents do not want these books to be accessible to our children. When you open the door to what’s going on in the world today, you’re opening the door to perversion.”

Cheryl Ammons took a similar approach. She suggested the book took away parental rights of when and how to introduce sexual orientation and gender identity to children.

“We send our kids to school to get an education, not indoctrination,” Ammons said.

High school librarian Nichole Owens, who spoke during public comment, suggested the book has bigger themes beyond one passage that parent’s have been focused on.

“Despite Johnson writing about these difficult experiences, he is determined they do not define him, nor does he allow them to define his book,” Owens said. “He is more than his trauma and in fact trauma is not the main theme of this book. ‘All Boys Aren’t Blue’ is also about the resilience of spirit, the importance of education, the strength one gets from good friendships and it is especially about the unyielding power of a supportive family.”

Several parents who spoke against policy changes stressed the importance of having books that all kids can relate to and see themselves in.

Shanya Coshey, who graduated from Hempfield this year, said books like Johnson’s can be a lifeline for current students and can show readers who they can be.

“They guide us,” Coshey said. “They let know that it’s OK to be different. When we take this book away we tell our students you can’t be different, you cannot be as you are. You take away their identity, you take away their growth as a person and we do it all because it’s different. It’s a story that you don’t see often, yes, and yes it does deal with more difficult and more graphic content. But that content is not beyond the level that we as students are capable of reading.”