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.
