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Will Radnor School Board End Policy Allowing Parents’ Input on Library Content?

The issue of “pornographic” books in a school library has again arisen in a Delaware Valley school —this time in the Radnor School District.

Mike Lake, the father of two teenagers at Radnor High School, had successfully challenged some books he believes are inappropriate for kids, using the district’s process for parents to challenge books. But other people complained about books being removed for any reason, including students who held a protest over the “book ban.”

Lake spoke at the Radnor School Board curriculum committee meeting on Tuesday, saying he has issues with those who gloss over “sexually explicit images” in the challenged books.

“The right to read is not a right of minors to view pornography,” said Lake. “The images in the (superintendent’s) email from ‘Blankets,’ ‘Fun Home’ and ‘Gender Queer’ are gratuitous and fail the U.S. Supreme Court justices’ pervasive vulgarity test. Since 2021, concerned parents were repeatedly advised to refer to board Policy 144.1 to challenge and request reviews of books. In the challenge at issue, (Superintendent) Dr. Batchelor stated the policy was followed. The vote by Radnor Educators to remove ‘Blankets,’ ‘Fun Home’ and ‘Gender Queer’ was 5 to 1. Eighty-three percent of the committee members found the books (are) age inappropriate.

“Case closed,’ Lake said.

He later told DV Journal the high school librarian had given one of those books to his 14-year-old daughter.

“The librarian knew she was 14,” he said. “And my wife previously called the librarian to express our disgust with the presence of the books.”

Image from “Gender Queer”

“I filed the challenge at the direction of administrators, who repeatedly cited the board policy (that allows parents to challenge books),” said Lake. “When the results from Radnor Educators came back five to one to remove the books, the school board, in Radnor Raiders 2.0 fashion, pushed to remove the policy so that parents would have zero options to remove sexually explicit, grooming materials for their 14-year-old children.”

The Radnor teams were previously called “Raiders” until 2021, when the board voted to change the name.

At the meeting, Lake quoted state law that prohibits “any book, magazine, pamphlet, slide, photograph, film, videotape, computer depiction or other material depicting a child under the age of 18 years engaging in a prohibited sexual act or in the simulation of such acts commits an offense.”

“What are some prohibited sexual acts…found in the three titles? Masturbation, fellatio, cunnilingus,” Lake told the committee.

Malvern mom Fenicia Redman, who has been fighting against these books in the Great Valley School District for several years, brought posters with the graphic illustrations from the books to the meeting. Lake noted that Batchelor said a high percentage of new books in the school library are gender-affirming, “hopefully, without pervasive vulgarities.”

A Wayne mother who signed a petition to put the books back on the shelves immediately rather than waiting for a policy change, said she wasn’t shocked by “Fun Home’ and said it provided an “honest” description of young people’s anxiety, which other books don’t have.

“What if my child or another student needs this book and it isn’t there?” she asked.

Radnor High grad Abbe Longman spoke for a group of 15 to 20 alumni who signed a letter supporting the library keeping the books. She extolled the quality of the education she received at RHS. She said most students struggle with issues related to sexuality, identity, etc. That’s the reason the graduates are concerned about the books being removed from the library. She acknowledged the books continue images of graphic nudity, but “to call them pornographic is inaccurate and unfair,” she said.

Parent Emily Nelson also asked that the books be returned to the library and she said the policy of allowing parents to challenge the presence of books they believe are inappropriate should end.

“It’s incredibly important for young people to see themselves in literature,” said Nelson. “Young people these days are at mental and emotional struggles, LGBTQIA students in particular.”

Over the past few years, these books and others like them have sparked controversy in other Delaware Valley school districts, including West Chester Area School District and Great Valley School District. There’s also a website about problematic books for young people. Perhaps, the most “ink” has been spilled about the Central Bucks School District, where a Republican-controlled school board removed the offensive materials, only to lose an election in 2023. Progressive Democrats promptly reinstated the books, with then-school board President Karen Smith taking the oath of office on a pile of “banned” books.

Former Radnor Commissioner Matthew Marshall told DV Journal he’s disappointed in the leadership of the current board.

“As a former Radnor High School student, 1988 UPenn alum, and parent of two Radnor graduates, it astounds me what passes for critical thinking these days,” said Marshall.

“When I was a student at Radnor High School in the early 1980s, the administration, school board, and faculty embraced a high school student’s freedom of thought, expression, and communications for the greater good of the community,” Marshall said. “However, societal norms, including parental participation and input, always prevailed. By allowing RTSD to defer only to the high school librarians, curriculum committee, and the current students’ opinion to decide which books are appropriate to put on library shelves, they eliminate parental involvement and community norms in education.”

“Since when does the end of parents’ participation in their child’s learning begin and end with paying a tax bill?” Marshall added.

The school board is expected to discuss the issue at its April 22 meeting.

BARNHART: For Central Bucks, Age Appropriate Standards Are Not a Book Ban

Sadly, the Central Bucks School District’s library policy continues to be mischaracterized by many as a “book ban” that discriminates against LGBTQ+ authors and people of color. Likewise, a handful of media outlets continue to publish articles that propagate the same harmful and misinformed narrative, further dividing the community and villainizing the school board majority.

The reason behind these false allegations is puzzling, as the policy is entirely neutral regarding sexual orientation and gender identity issues and treats explicit content equally regardless of whether the sexually explicit depictions happen to be between straight, gay, or transgender persons.

The board and superintendent have tried to set the record straight several times, but it doesn’t seem to correct the deceptive rhetoric. Board President Dana Hunter and Supt. Abe Lucabaugh clearly stated that the intention of the library policy is to “prioritize materials that support and enrich curriculum and students’ personal interests and learning” and to provide standards for age-appropriate materials.

The policy also states, “district libraries must comply with the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) as specified in 47 U.S.C. §254(h)(5), including technology protection measures, and all state and federal laws relating to the prohibition on pornographic and other harmful materials for minors.”

Seems reasonable for our libraries to abide by the law, right?

It is interesting that a book containing graphic sexual content is seen as appropriate for a school library. Yet, if you post images from that very same book on Facebook, your account gets locked for “violation of Facebook’s community guidelines.” That happened to a Central Bucks parent.

To provide some history, before the last school board election, parents discovered numerous sexually explicit books in Central Bucks schools. But they found they had no recourse. The library policy had been archived. It was clear that Central Bucks needed a new one. The new policy resurrected a book challenge process, providing parents with the option to challenge books they deemed inappropriate for students.

Shannon Harris, a concerned Central Bucks parent, recently explained that “more than 60 challenge requests were submitted to the district to date. The administrative regulations allow for 60 days to review the books being challenged.” Harris also stated all 60-plus books being challenged were due to sexually explicit content. Harris explained the book challenges would be reviewed by committees of Central Bucks staff members, who will read the challenged books and present their findings within 60 days.

This process is anything but a book ban. It is the best of both worlds. It provides a balance between upholding parental rights and trusting in the professionalism of an educated staff to weigh in on the decision-making. It seems measured and cautious. It gives parents a voice and provides enough time for school staff to form an opinion.

Parents across the district remain grateful that the school board majority honored their campaign promise to defend and uphold parental rights. They listened to concerned parents about the lack of standards regarding sexually graphic content in elementary and secondary libraries, and thankfully, the school board majority is doing something about it.”

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Great Valley Mom Sues District, State Officials Over Graphic Sex in School Books

A mother with a teenager in the Great Valley School District filed a federal lawsuit against the district over obscene materials in school libraries where her son is a student.

Fenicia Redman filed the suit without a lawyer on behalf of her minor son, a student at Great Valley High School, asking the court to issue an injunction to remove the books and other materials.

But said she believes the case will eventually reach the U.S. Supreme Court because the books are in schools nationwide.

Image from “Gender Queer”

“I’m a determined Puerto Rican American advocating for the protection of my minor son and all minor children from obscene graphic sexual material distributed in the public school system. In the last 10 months,” she said in the introduction to her litigation. “I’ve publicly appealed to educators, administrators, directors, law enforcement, district attorneys, legislators, and the governor, asking each to remove obscene sexual material from my minor son’s school library.”

She mentioned the book “Gender Queer” with graphic pictures of sexual acts, “Tantric Sex,” which is a manual describing sexual acts, “All Boys Aren’t Blue,” which also shows details of sexual acts, and “PUSH” that includes a female child who is raped by her father. In “Fun House” there are scenes of women having sex with women.

The complaint filed by Redman includes excerpts of various books available in the Great Valley High School library that students are also able to download on their home computers, which she claimed is a violation of federal law.

The lawsuit detailed Redman’s months-long saga of talking to the Great Valley School Board, the local police, the Chester County District Attorney’s office and the state legislature, where some legislators were sympathetic to her cause. She said she was rebuffed by Gov. Tom Wolf and Attorney General Josh Shapiro.

Both the police and Chester County District Attorney’s office told Redman they did not believe the pornographic material in the books was a criminal matter, the suit said.

“Finding no support from the school district, police, or attorney general, friends and I took our appeal to the (state) capitol, stood in the rotunda silently with posters I made of content from “PUSH,” “Tantric Sex,” “Gender Queer” and “All Boys Aren’t Blue.”” There she was told by a capitol police officer to remove the most graphic posters because ‘There are children walking these halls. Get rid of it now!’”

The lawsuit might receive an X rating for all the graphic photos of sexual acts included. However, they are the graphic photos that are in students’ library books for minor children to view, she noted.

On May 15, 2022, Redman alleges her First Amendment rights were violated by the Great Valley School District at a school board meeting. As Redman pressed her case with the board, Superintendent Daniel Geoffredo had her removed by security officers and then called the police.

In an interview with the DVJournal, Redman said she has no recourse except to sue, since everyone from the school board and school officials to Wolf ignored her complaints about the graphic books.

“This is a national issue,” said Redman. “On June 29, the governor had these posters in his office. The police removed them from the capitol hallway. He did not care. The governor looked at posters of a child giving (oral sex) to another child and he didn’t care. Minimally, he could have called his attorney general to investigate. All of them do not see this as a problem.”

“The transfer of obscene materials to minors is a crime,” said Redman. “This has no place in our schools. What is the educational value of two minors having sex with each other? This is criminally extreme. The kids have no say in the matter. They’re sitting ducks.”

“The Office of the Attorney General has no standing in a school board matter of this nature and this lawsuit includes no allegations directly levied at the attorney general, that being said we are aware of the lawsuit and our office plans to represent the attorney general,” a spokeswoman for Shapiro said.

“How does (Attorney General Josh) Shapiro (who is running for governor) have the nerve to run ads saying he’s protecting children and does nothing?” she said. “This isn’t even a moral issue. It’s a criminal issue.”

Redman added, “This is not ‘The Twilight Zone,’ and the governor of our commonwealth and the attorney general, the senior law enforcement officer of our state, says it’s not a criminal act,” Redman said.

The other defendants’ institutions, including the Great Valley School District spokeswoman, did not respond to requests for comment Monday.

Redman has a Go Fund Me page to fund her legal representation.

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