The Redlands school board — which has been the subject of controversy over book challenges — shot down a policy proposal Tuesday that would have banned donations of library materials that contain “perceived pornography.”
Candy Olson, a Christian, conservative board member, recommended the policy after she discovered “Gender Queer” by Maia Kobabe was donated to a campus library. The novel depicts sexual acts and discusses LGBTQ issues. The graphic memoir was made available to students 13 and older, though there was no record of the book being checked out.
Olson’s proposal would have banned donations to school libraries of books containing “perceived pornography, erotica, graphic descriptions or graphic depictions of sexual acts, sexual violence, and/or sexually explicit content.” The policy asked that materials donated to school libraries be age-appropriate and “wholesome.”
“We should just prevent it. It'll save us time and money in the long run anyways,” said Olson. “Prevent it from getting in, and the principal will have to sign off on it as well.”
But critics like Valerie Taber bristled at the wording of the policy.
“Who decides what’s wholesome?” said Taber during public comment.
The policy asked that school principals sign off on all book donations before they’re put in the library. It would have required whoever decided to allow a book into the library to document their name and rationale for allowing the book. The records would then be held in the principal’s office for four years.
Olson said school staff need to be held accountable for what materials they allow onto campuses.
Meanwhile, many critics said adopting Olson’s proposed policy would have been a waste of time and district resources. Last year, the board passed a policy that allows members of the public to challenge books already in school libraries.
Superintendent Juan Cabral pushed back against the need for a new policy.
“We don't need over one incident to have an entire policy written when we could have a process added that includes that oversight,” said Cabral.
Board President Michelle Rendler agreed and said a procedure added to an existing policy would be sufficient.
After a lengthy debate, the board chose not to move forward with the policy. Instead, they directed Cabral to draft a new districtwide procedure to add oversight and documentation for book donations. The procedure will be presented at the board’s March 10 meeting.