School Board Meeting, October 5, 2022
Books in the school library that are inappropriate for children.
Books in the School Library that are Inappropriate for Children
Budget Committee member Michael Kelly complained that the school library has books in it that inappropriately sexualize children, pointing to a book on a “kids” shelf in the library titled I Am Jazz which he said had some concerning topics in it. The book is about a young transgender person.
He mentioned another book in the library [title inaudible in the video, perhaps “I Am George” but I was unable to find a book with that title] for a 4th-grade target audience. He said the “book talks about pornography and implies that it is okay to masturbate. The book teaches children how to hide online searches from their parents…. It talks about taking hormone blockers to stop puberty, and sex-reassignment surgery.” He said that the book “stereotypes and slanders males” and that “the book suggests that “if the child is confused about their gender and that perhaps something is wrong with them they should not talk to their parents about it.”
He said we should not be teaching such things in elementary school, and that he believes the sexualization of children is producing a mental health crisis.
[Postscript: an early reader of this blog said that the other book mentioned as in the school library is titled George.]
Making Union Negotiations Public
The School Board announced that it had received a formal written opinion from its attorney regarding 2022 Warrant Article #24 directing the School Board to make union negotiation meetings open to the public. There was no discussion of the contents of this opinion.
Budget Committee Member Tom Butkiewicz requested a copy of the letter, and badgered the board about how the board could have a legal basis for believing that this warrant article was merely advisory despite not having a formal opinion from its attorney. [Note: the town’s attorney provided a legal opinion on the warrant article before the election, saying it was illegal and unenforceable.]
Video
The politically interesting part of the meeting starts at about 1:08 in the video.
Parents need to be made aware of what is happening in this town. If I had young kids I would be like a wild man at these meetings. Maybe someone could makeup fliers before these meetings letting them know what was going to be discussed. I would help deliver them!