Principal Bryan Paslay of Troutman Middle School addresses the Iredell-Statesville Board of Education meeting in Statesville on Monday.
The content of what students in Iredell-Statesville Schools have available to them in the libraries was the focus for much of Monday’s board meeting, starting with the public comment portion.
The first public comment came from Mia Anderson, a student in the district who said banning books is an inadequate way of teaching children. She said as an LBGT student, representation is important.
“It is so important for us to feel safe in what we are reading,” Anderson said. “I want us all to feel safe in what we are reading. I want us all to feel like we belong. What we see and read can deeply impact that fact.”
“I’ve needed guidance on figuring out things about myself, and banning the resources I’ve used and that others could potentially use, would be destructive.”
She said she has found solace in reading about characters she sees herself in, and noted that schools often ban books that make parents uncomfortable, but that isn’t a reason to ban books or materials from schools.
Deborah Popolizio also spoke on the subject as well, hitting on similar themes as Anderson before her. Citing a number of national health organizations’ studies, Popolizio echoed the importance of representation.
“Representation matters to the mental health of children from these populations,” Popolizio said. “The students of the district have a right to access resources from the library to help them understand their individual experiences. They have a right to read literature with characters that act and feel like they do.”
“As far as addressing the parents that want to ban books titled “Am I Racist” and “White Fragility,” none of us have to stretch our imagination to understand their motivation.”
Brin Wilson kept up the momentum as she noted that, with the school system not desegregating until 1963, the first group of students to go through an integrated I-SS would only be about 64 years old today.
“The segregation and legal oppression of Black people in this district is more than history, it is the lived experience of today’s students’ grandparents,” Wilson said.
Todd Scott, president of the Statesville NAACP also spoke, saying the debate was political. He said a small number of adults are trying to dictate what 20,000 students learn.
“Across the country, book bans have risen dramatically over the past year, led by people using America’s children as their pawns to win elections by inflaming a culture war intent on stopping kids from learning about race, sexual orientation, gender identity, and different cultures, or even just an unbiased history of our own country,” Scott said. “This is racist in itself. It’s not about the kids, it’s about the parents.”
While not mentioned directly, part of the debate of books and curriculum was sparked last year as critics of Critical Race Theory, a legal theory, became a catch-all phrase to question how race was taught or addressed in books at schools. States like Texas and its Gov. Greg Abbott supported a Republican lawmakers’ campaign to investigate books that cover race, gender, and sexual orientation in Texas schools. Several states passed laws banning the teaching of CRT.
More recently, Florida passed a law that would restrict teachers, with a focus on kindergarten through third grade, from discussing sexual orientation and gender identity with students. There are also parts of the “Parental Rights in Education” bill that could force schools to reveal information to parents about their student’s sexual orientation or gender, whether or not the student wanted that revealed.
And while the first four speakers spoke out against any sort of book bans or amending of curriculum, not every speaker felt the way about what may be in I-SS media centers and libraries.
Comments in previous meetings were similar to what Kelly Harris said to the board on Monday, as she said that a conversation about the subject needed to begin as there are books she said she and others took issues within the school systems’ libraries, noting federal obscenity laws.
“We need to get together as adults and decide what curriculum we want our children to have. We don’t need the children deciding their curriculum, do we?” Harris said.
Harris said she had excerpts from some books in question and could read them, but it wasn’t appropriate to do in public. She said the content wasn’t about LBGTQ, and that people want to use the “race card” a lot, but it was about age-appropriate literature for students.
After the public comment period, Principal Bryan Paslay of Troutman Middle School came forward as scheduled on the agenda, as the school had been focused on by critics of the content of books in recent public meetings. He said he was there to clarify some things.
“Last month, you heard from someone claiming pornographic books were in our media center, and that she denied being able to come into the school and prove that those books were there. That statement is partially true. The two books aren’t owned by TMS, and aren’t in our media center. The truth in that statement was she was denied to come into the school, and I will continue to do that,” Paslay said. “We will deny entry into our school to random people calling in to say ‘I want to go take pictures in your library.’”
He said he takes the safety of students and staff seriously, so he won’t let just anyone enter the building.
“They say they are doing this for the rights of all parents. Well, the parents of Troutman Middle School would be here causing a much bigger ruckus and scene if I just let any and everybody into that school.”
He said there was a separate incident where a parent kept calling and calling the school and didn’t believe the school didn’t have it because there was a video on the internet that claimed it was at the school. He said the school resource officer had to warn the caller after 10 straight calls that she could be arrested for harassment if she didn’t stop.
Paslay said in spite of his decades of living in Iredell County and working in the schools, he has had his integrity questioned more this year than in any other, combined.
“Why? Because everybody is wanting to make everything a political game. I’m not playing that political game. I’ve got a job to do. And that’s the responsibility to keep up, take care of, and do what’s best for Troutman Middle School,” Paslay said.
He said as for the concerns the school’s media center had pornography, parents might want to look at their students’ phones.
“I’d suggest they first look at their child’s cell phone, not their school library. For the trash and pornography that I have to deal with comes from kids sharing it via their phone and social media, not the media center,” Paslay said.
Follow Ben Gibson on Facebook and Twitter at @BenGibsonSRL
Book banning a hot topic at Iredell-Statesville Schools meeting - Mooresville Tribune
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