Editorial: Who gets to judge challenged books?
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While people joke — or gripe — about teachers having summers off, a lot happens over the summer to get ready for the kids to come back in the fall. For Hempfield Area School District, there’s even more because of ongoing issues such as the imminent construction project.
And the book challenges.
The district has been wrestling with the idea of what is or isn’t acceptable since March 2022, when the issue first came up at a board meeting. That has prompted months of back and forth about what policies were necessary, what process should be followed and what lines needed to be drawn regarding books available in the library or integrated into the curriculum.
The most recent came Monday as officials discussed the review board that evaluates a formally challenged book.
According to the proposal, a committee would be formed with at least one librarian, one teacher, one school administrator and two community members or parents (not employed by the district). If the book in question is being used or made available at the secondary level, a student would also be included. That student would have to be 18 or older and require parental permission.
Resident Suzanne Kerlin Ward brought up another request: that the student appointee should have completed 11th grade English with at least a B+.
That’s a fine hurdle to clear. A student with a better average should be able to read the material quickly and more critically than a student who struggles with reading. A student with good grades should be able to better make time for participating in a committee.
But here’s a question in return: What are the requirements for the community members or parents?
Will there be bars to reach for their participation? Will they have to prove they graduated high school? Will they have to prove expertise in the material in question? Will they have to demonstrate an understanding of the books being evaluated?
These questions aren’t meant to goad. They aren’t a sharp stick jabbing at people who are expressing concerns. Ward’s query is a natural catalyst for this. What are the qualifications of the people being placed in a position to review materials made available to all the district’s children when the materials are challenged?
Parents and community members should be actively involved in local education. School board meetings should be packed with people asking questions and expressing opinions about what is being done with local money, in the local name and for local children.
But there is a difference between questioning a book’s relevance and appropriateness and deciding on it. If the student member should have to have prerequisites, so should the community members.