See You In Court! CABE Monthly Column
“See You In Court!” is written by Thomas Mooney and appears in the CABE Journal, a publication of the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education.
Bob Bombast, veteran member of the Nutmeg Board of Education, prides himself on his constituent service, and some members of the public know that they will get a sympathetic hearing when they complain to Bob about the Nutmeg Public Schools. Over the summer, Bob received two separate complaints from parents of students at Median Middle School about books in the media center, and Bob decided to investigate.
On the first day of school, Bob drove over to the Middle School, and he pressed the bell to be let in to the building. Once admitted, Bob went straight to the library.
Bob checked the list of books that he received from the concerned resident, who described them as “inappropriate,” and he went about his work. After about two hours, Bob found three different books on the list, including Captain Underpants, Gender Queer, and George, which describes the challenges of a transgender girl. Books in hand, Bob went to the circulation desk and asked the library media specialist to check these books out to him. Confused about Bob’s actions, but well aware that Bob was a member of the Nutmeg Board of Education, the library media specialist did Bob’s bidding, and he left with the books.
After looking through these books and taking notes, Bob brought them to the next meeting of the Nutmeg Board of Education. At the end of the meeting, Ms. Chairperson asked the Board if members had any further business for the Board’s consideration, and Bob took the opportunity to make his proposal.
“I value the opinions of Nutmeg residents, and I call upon the Board to address a serious problem. Two concerned parents reached out to me to express concern about books in the library at our beloved Median Middle School, and I took it upon myself to investigate. I was appalled to find a number of books in the library that were shocking in their content. One book is entitled ‘George,’ for example, but it is about a transgender girl. Other books that I found include discussion of sexuality that are wholly inappropriate for middle school children.”
Fellow Board member Mal Content interrupted Bob. “Bob, I am sick and tired of your ignorant grandstanding! We pay library media specialists good money to decide on what books to include in our school libraries, and you don’t have the knowledge or temperament to make these decisions. What do you want the Board to do?”
“Well, Captain Obvious, how about a quick vote to remove these inappropriate books from the library? That would be a good start,” Bob responded.
“That’s not our job,” Mal shot back. “You need to stay in your lane, Bob.” That exchange resulted in a lengthy discussion among Board members about Bob’s concerns and the proper role of the Board. Some members agreed with Bob and were ready to take action, and others expressed concern that Board members shouldn’t be involved in such matters. To bring the discussion to a close, Ms. Chairperson announced that she is referring Bob’s concerns to the Policy Committee, which will come back to the Board with recommendations on whether to address this issue by policy, and, if so, what that policy should be.
