Don’t slow the process, Beaufort County School Board says of challenged book reviews
In a split vote, the Beaufort County School Board on Tuesday night voted rejected a proposal to assess only five books at a time instead of 10 from the 97 books removed for review from school libraries for suspected sexual or racial content.
A majority of the board disagreed with voting on only five titles at a time. Only Rachel Wisnefski, Victor Ney and Elizabeth Hey voted for the motion.
The vote was 3-7-0 and needed a simple majority to pass. It is the first time the board voted on whether to change the review process.
At the pace of 10 books per month, the process is already slated to take until September. Board members against the motion were concerned that slowing down the review process would keep books off the shelves longer. They said that their job is to ensure the review committees did their due diligence, not to to make decisions on the books.
“I think it’s great to read them, but I don’t think that that is actually the requirement,” board member Ingrid Boatright said at the meeting.
Wisnefski, Ney and Hey disagreed.
“I disagree that our job here is simply to agree or disagree with the committee’s report,” Wisnefski said at the meeting. “I think it’s in regard to the material in question.”
In order to vote on the material, they said they need time to read the books.
“(We don’t) have any business voting these books on the shelf (we) haven’t read them,” Ney said. “The very first review was five books. I read those books. But the last review was 10 books and I didn’t have time to read 10 books in two weeks.”
Upholding committee decisions
The school board also voted to return nine more books to shelves in some capacity in a split vote for the third time.
A majority of the board agreed with the book review committees to return the books to schools. Wisnefski, Ney and Hey voted against the motion. During all three votes so far, those three board members have consistently voted against or abstained from the motion to return the titles to school libraries.
The vote was 7-3-0 and needed a simple majority to pass.
The decisions were:
- “Eleanor and Park” by Rainbow Rowell — returned to grades 9-12
- “Grown” by Tiffany D. Jackson — returned to grades 6-12
- “I’ll Give You the Sun” by Jandy Nelson — returned to grades 6-12
- “Monday’s Not Coming” by Tiffany D. Jackson — returned to grades 6-12, previously in grades K-12
- “Sold” by Patricia McCormick — returned to grades 6-12, previously in grades K-12
- “All the Things We Do In The Dark” by Saundra Mitchell — returned to K-12, previously in grades 9-12
- “City of Heavenly Fire” by Cassandra Clare — returned to grades 6-12, previously in grades 9-12
- “I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter” by Erika L. Sanchez — returned to grades 9-12, previously in grades K-12
- “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” by Jesse Andrews — returned to grades 9-12
“Nineteen Minutes” by Jodi Picoult — removed from all grade levels, previously in grades 9-12
Titles in K-8 schools are shelved in an upper grades section and no titles are in K-5 schools, according to spokesperson Candace Bruder.
How the process works
The 97 books were originally challenged via email by outspoken local GOP politician Mike Covert, who used an identical list created by parent Ivie Szalai with his addition of “Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You.”
Szalai submitted an email hours later, and the district considers both original complainants. Superintendent Frank Rodriguez made the decision to pull the books from library shelves for review Oct. 21.
Review committees containing parents, educators and others were assembled to read and vote on the titles. Only Covert and Szalai can appeal the committees’ decisions.
The appeals go to the School Board, which has the final decision, which will stand for at least five years after a book’s original challenge date.
This story was originally published March 8, 2023 at 11:40 AM.
