5 days ago
Hillsborough school board grills superintendent over book removals
TAMPA — Days before he is expected to discuss his district's removal of library books before state leaders, Hillsborough County Schools Superintendent Van Ayres faced scrutiny from all directions at a heated school board meeting Monday — including from members of his own board.
In May, Education Commissioner Manny Diaz sent a letter calling for the removal of two books from Hillsborough shelves over concerns about their content. The week after, Attorney General James Uthmeier followed up with a second letter asking about more 'pornographic materials in your school libraries.'
In a response, Ayres wrote that all titles mentioned had been removed. He also said that to 'err on the side of caution,' all 600 titles that had been placed on a list for removal by any county in the state during the past two school years had been taken out of circulation and would be reviewed, even though no objections to them have risen through Hillsborough's existing process.
Ayres' response garnered rancor from all sides.
During the public comment portion of Monday's meeting, 10 people, arguing that they were against book bans and censorship, questioned why the books were still allowed in the district.
Julie Gebhards, a mother of a former Newsome High School student, pointed to passages in books that were still allowed prior to the state's letter, including Toni Morrison's 'The Bluest Eye' and Chuck Palahniuk's 'Invisible Monsters.'
'I can't believe that nobody stood up and said, 'This does not belong in our schools,'' she said.
Three people spoke against the district's move to remove the titles, which include classics like Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet,' a graphic adaptation of Anne Frank's diary and other Morrison titles that have been critically acclaimed for their discourse of race and gender.
Jeanne Coleman, a parent of two former students, questioned why the existing process, which includes parental input and community standards, had been overstepped.
'I agree there has to be age appropriate books for students, but don't tell me that it's inappropriate if I think it's appropriate for my child to read,' she said. 'That's a parental decision.'
But Ayres faced the most heat from the board.
Board member Nadia Combs said she was initially pleased with how he handled Diaz' letter, and appreciated a conversation that reiterated that no one stood for age-inappropriate books in schools. But she said the board was blindsided by the response to Uthmeier's letter, sent from the board's attorney, and his quick decision to pull books
'I'm trying to process your lack of communication, the transparency, and also lack of knowledge and input from me,' Combs told Ayres. 'I'm very concerned with your decision making process on that.'
Combs continued: 'You created a financial burden for librarians. … You did not engage with parents, you did not engage with our PTA, you did not engage with the union. You did not engage with your employees. You did not engage with your supervisors or your lead librarians, and I was not informed at all.'
Ayres said that as superintendent, he bears the final responsibility of day-to-day operations.
'I needed to ensure that we don't have inappropriate materials in libraries, and that's my ultimate responsibility,' he said.
School board attorney James Potter called the letters from the state an 'unprecedented situation' and said they'd work to develop protocol in the future.
Board member Patti Rendon said she wished there was a special board meeting called or some form of prior review of the letter Ayres sent out.
She and board member Lynn Gray questioned other district officials for not having evidence of process of compliance with state statutes that put board members and Ayres at risk.
Board chairperson Jessica Vaughn also expressed frustration with Ayres. She believed the district overstepped media specialists hired to fill libraries, who she said put their own licenses on the line and face jail time if they do their job wrong.
The district is offering a $1,500 stipend to certified media specialists to review the books outside of their contracted hours. Vaughn asked Ayres about the anticipated cost of the reviews. Ayres estimated around $345,000.
'That's the low end,' Vaughn said. 'On the higher end, it could be up to half a million dollars that this is costing us.'
Van Ayres said he had concerns about the existing process, which he called 'not acceptable.'
'I wanted to ensure that ... come August, all books have been reviewed,' he said. 'And that was the action that I took, was to make those books under review and unavailable while that process took place.'
Vaughn pushed Ayres on whether he notified parents or board members about his decision. When he said he did not, she asked whether other districts had these books on their libraries. Ayres said they did.
'I find it offensive that you say that it's your duty to protect our community from inappropriate books, because taking sexual content books and reading them out of context does not make them inappropriate,' Vaughn said.
Ayres is expected to address Hillsborough County's book removal process before the state Board of Education on Wednesday in Miami.
