Though prompted by a challenge to “The Color Purple,” Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel wasn’t mentioned Tuesday during a Brunswick County Board of Education policy committee meeting.
Instead board members discussed the policies and procedures regarding book challenges in the school district—the most recent example was Brunswick County Commissioner Pat Sykes’ challenge of “The Color Purple,” which she appealed to the board of education earlier this month.
Members of the board of education on Jan. 3 voted to keep “The Color Purple” on the curriculum of Advanced Placement (AP) English courses in the school district. Board member Charlie Miller included a caveat that the book remain in AP classes only until Tuesday’s policy meeting, at which point the board would revisit the issue and “look at the policy that is currently in place and make any revisions that we see fit.”
But board members didn’t readdress “The Color Purple” challenge; instead they focused on the makeup of the committee that upheld the book before it was appealed to Superintendent Edward Pruden, then to the board of education.
“There have been some more rules and regulations put into place to make sure parents are aware of what their children are reading and I think that’s very good,” board member Shirley Babson said Tuesday. “My only concern in this whole thing has never been to take [‘The Color Purple’] out of circulation, but to make sure the children who read the book were mature enough, according to what their parents think.”
The board is expected to formally approve the committee at a Feb. 4 board meeting.
“Although the board expressed interest in clearly defining membership on the school-based review and community media advisory committees, the policy review closed the book on what has been weeks of conversation about instructional materials in the schools,” Brunswick County Schools Spokeswoman Jessica Swencki said. “The board’s decision reinforces the belief that parents in Brunswick County retain the final say in their child’s exposure to instructional materials.”
A systemwide annotated bibliography of works of literature will be completed this summer by curriculum coaches, Pruden told board members. The new resource will include titles, important literary features and reasons why a book may appear on a frequently challenged list.
“This resource will be an additional tool for parents to stay informed,” Pruden said.
Book challenge
The Jan. 3 board meeting punctuated a monthslong debate about the appropriateness of the book for high school students.
As required by district policy, Sykes first filed a written complaint–the only one since the controversy over the book began in October–to West Brunswick High School on Dec. 1.
In her complaint, she likened “The Color Purple” to pornography and took issue with the frequent use of strong language, including the use of the “N word.” A team of educators at the school reviewed her complaint and read the book before ultimately deciding, in a unanimous vote, to keep “The Color Purple.”
Sykes then appealed to Pruden, who upheld the original decision. She challenged that decision, which brought the decision to the full board of education earlier this month.
“We should be held to a higher level to promote excellence in our schools. We censor what our kids watch, read and see in our homes based on what we feel they can handle,” Sykes said. “It’s called common sense.”
Pruden has repeatedly defended the book’s selection and appropriateness for the AP English classes.
Read previous coverage:
- Board of education votes to keep ‘The Color Purple’—for now
- Brunswick school board to let residents sound off on ‘The Color Purple’
- Brunswick superintendent upholds decision to keep ‘The Color Purple,’ county commissioner to take her complaint to school board
- Brunswick County school to keep ‘The Color Purple’ after commissioner files complaint
- ‘The Color Purple’ at the center of fierce debate in Brunswick County
