PENDER COUNTY — The process to field parental objections to books and other instructional materials is again under scrutiny in Pender County Schools.
READ MORE: PCS restricts 2 ‘garbage’ library books previously OK’d after board member reads passages aloud
At the last school board meeting, board member Phil Cordeiro presented changes to district policy 3210, which outlines a process for inspecting and objecting to instructional material.
The changes place the power to remove books from the classroom and libraries solely in the hands of the school board, bypassing school-level reconsideration teams and the district’s Community Media Advisory Committee.
This is Cordeiro’s second time trying to change the policy. In August 2023, the board member wanted a decision made at one school to apply to all schools of the same level — if one book was banned at Topsail High, it would also be removed from Pender High. The suggestion was not adopted.
The newest policy changes underwent first reading at the board’s Sept. 10 meeting to no objection by board members; it will return for second reading and potential passage on Oct. 8.
Though she did not offer an opinion on the policy at the meeting, board member Beth Burns did ask for Cordeiro’s reasoning for the policy proposal.
“When I saw this, I couldn’t really understand the why behind it,” Burns said.
Cordeiro’s reasons for the changes are to simplify the challenge process. He said he also wants to address the inconsistencies in decisions between schools, echoing his concern from last fall. If the board decides to remove a book from one school, it can choose to do so for some or all of them, per his proposal.
Board member Brent Springer told PCD Monday he agreed with Cordeiro’s assessment and supported the policy.
Many of our constituents believe there are better things to worry about,” Springer wrote in an email. “I agree; however, people’s time could be used more effectively and for instructional purposes. We have to get these grades and the attendance up to a standard; I feel this won’t be accomplished by asking for manpower and/or volunteers to serve on a committee that elected officials can vote on.”
As it stands, a parent can submit a reconsideration request form to their school’s principal, which is then reviewed by a reconsideration committee composed of that school’s administration, media coordinator, lead teacher from each grade and parent volunteer from each grade.
The parent can appeal the committee’s decision, which would then go to the Community Media Advisory Committee. However, Director of Digital Learning and Media Craig Lawson informed the board only six items have been challenged in the last two years, all of which were decided at the school level.
CMAC is composed of the superintendent, district technology director, district director of digital learning and media, a high school student, plus a media coordinator, principal and parent from each level of school within the system. Upon their decision, the parent can once again appeal the decision to the school board, whose decision is final.
“I received feedback from parents, teachers, and fellow board members that the current process is ‘too complicated’ and should be simplified,” Cordeiro said in an email to Port City Daily on Monday.
According to Lawson, the reconsideration committee’s review takes a month and a half at most.
On Monday, Cordeiro told PCD it would take between four to six months to reach a decision if a parent appealed all the way to the school board. He also said the lengthy and complicated process could deter parents from making appeals.
One community member did speak on the policy change at the meeting.
“This takes away the voices of the parents and educators on the panels designed to review materials in question in order to recommend removal or maintaining of that material,” Rochelle Whiteside said.
Cordeiro refuted this comment at the meeting and to PCD.
“Contrary to what many may say, the process I’m proposing includes feedback from parents, students, teachers, and other community members,” Cordeiro said to PCD. “It doesn’t ‘cut anyone out’ of the process.”
Under the proposed policy changes, any request would be forwarded to the superintendent, who could write a report on the material himself or designate another party — district leadership, a committee, school officials — to analyze the material and present findings to the board alongside the parent’s objection reasoning.
Both Cordeiro and Springer reported discussing the policy with multiple teachers and parents in favor of a simplified process.
Still, Whiteside suspected an underlying motive was at play.
“It appears to me that there are members who either don’t understand the parameters of the position from which they were elected or appointed or attempt to use their positions as stepping stones to move up the political ladder by ingratiating themselves in the eyes of their political party or a faction of that group,” Whiteside said at the meeting.
Port City Daily reached out to each board member for their thoughts; Springer and Cordeiro were the only respondents.
When asked if he was concerned the the policy changes would make objections more politicized, Springer said he didn’t have any worries.
“We have some great board members coming aboard very soon and may or may not agree with our decisions, but I think they will agree,” Springer said.
This is not the first time the board has grappled with how it handles book challenges.
In February 2023, the district reviewed 42 books at the behest of protestors linked to conservative advocacy groups. The list included classics like Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye,” Kurt Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse Five” and Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World.” No reconsideration request forms were submitted for any of the books.
Leading the charge was former Pender County sheriff candidate Mike Korn and Patricia Koluch who, armed with information from the book banning organization Pavement Education Project, argued the books were “pornographic” and “obscene.” Board member Brent Springer encouraged the district to examine the list.
What followed was a months-long weeding process overseen by Lawson that resulted in eight books removed from school shelves due to perceived inappropriate content.
The inconsistency amongst schools led Cordeiro to bring up the issue the following August. Though he wasn’t successful in establishing a way to ban a book across the district, he did triumph the following month. The board unanimously voted to remove the two more books — “Thirteen Reasons Why” by Jay Asher and “A Court of Mist and Fury” by Sarah J. Maas — from the list after Cordeiro read sexual passages from books aloud during a meeting.
Springer told PCD parents and teachers continue to have concerns about books.
“Aside from being a board member and being a parent first, they are my priority, and reading what’s accessible to them in a school library bought and paid for by our taxpayers is a problem with some of the content and context written in these books,” Springer said. “We live in a society that tends to favor convenience, as do I; that said, if it’s a long, drawn-out process, and if it’s lengthy at times, it tends to deter people from challenging material and/or books that shouldn’t be accessible to our children.”
Reach journalist Brenna Flanagan at brenna@localdailymedia.com
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