Censor-y Overload in King George County Schools
By Steve Watkins
Earlier this year, —school board members in King George County—a small, mostly rural county in Virginia that has one high school and one middle school—voted to restrict student access to and classroom use of nearly a hundred books and other instructional materials “with sexually explicit content.” This follows similar conservative attacks on books in public schools and libraries across the country—most notoriously in next-door Spotsylvania County, where some school board members even advocated burning books they deemed offensive. The King George School Board didn’t go that far but did order dozens of books to be kept behind the libraries’ checkout counters, like the dirty magazines of old in convenience stores, or like cigarettes. Under the new policy, parents are to be notified if their children or teens want to check out any of these books, and teachers who want to use any of them in classes are required to give months of advance notice, send opt-out forms home with their students, and provide alternate assignments upon request.
The list includes dozens of acknowledged masterworks. Among them: A Raisin in the Sun, All Quiet on the Western Front, Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation, Beloved, Brave New World, Ender’s Game, Fallen Angels, Hamlet, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Lord of the Flies, Macbeth, Maus, Of Mice and Men, Romeo and Juliet, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Crucible, The Handmaid’s Tale, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, The Lovely Bones, The Odyssey, The Scarlet Letter, Their Eyes Were Watching God, and To Kill a Mockingbird.
At the February 12, 2024, school board meeting, several community members spoke in support of the new restrictive policies, read aloud from sexually explicit passages, expressed their continuing outrage, and called for even more restrictions during public comments. You can listen to them HERE from the 11:30 mark to 54:30.
Two weeks later, at the February 26 King George School Board meeting, a dozen community members who oppose the restrictions—students, parents, teachers, librarians, and one local author—had their turn.
KAYLA AND MADISON
KAYLA: I’m Kayla. I’m a leadership student and on the eighth-grade committee.
MADDIE: I’m Madison, the middle school’s Beta Club president.
MADDIE: Last time we were here there were multiple adults who came up to the stand and read excerpts from different books that were completely out of context.
KAYLA: These scenes were made to spread awareness of things like drug abuse and sexual assault but were painted out as sex scenes.
MADDIE: We and many other students and teachers alike don’t think it’s fair for books to be challenged and taken off our shelves because they were misrepresented.
KAYLA: To show the power of context, why don’t we use the most popular book ever written.
MADDIE: The Bible.
KAYLA: The Bible is one of the many books at the KGMS library with its content being fully intact without any changes to make it more appropriate for our age demographic.
MADDIE: If we are to remove every book with a sliver of sexually explicit content we’d have to take out so many incredible books with more important lessons in them. The Bible is not a book promoting these things, yet they are still mentioned.
KAYLA: Together, we will read some excerpts from the Bible in hopes you see how important context truly is.
MADDIE: Here’s one, Genesis 19:32: “Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve the lineage of our father.”
KAYLA: Take another verse for example, Ezekiel 23:21: “Thus you called to remembrance the lewdness of your youth, when the Egyptians pressed your bosom because of your youthful breasts,” which is actually more commonly written as, “So you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when in Egypt your bosom was caressed and your young breasts fondled.”
MADDIE: What we are not saying is that the Bible should be banned because of these verses.
KAYLA: Instead we are asking that we all remember that clarity and context are very important when it comes to book challenges in our libraries.
MADDIE: We appreciate you all listening to us tonight.
KAYLA: We thank you for allowing us to speak about our books that give us the ability to receive knowledge, and the capability to be transported to a world of discovery by just picking up a book.
MADDIE AND KAYLA: Please don’t take our books away.
SUSAN PARK
I want to commend the school board and the district administration for not officially banning any of the books that have been challenged.
However, I think it’s important to point out that the new procedure of putting certain books out of reach and segregating them “behind the counter” is limiting access to these books. Students whose families want them to have access to, for example, the diary of Anne Frank, will need to go through several steps to access that book at school.
The books on any banned book list express feelings, experiences, and political views that some people wish did not exist. But they do exist.
Those who want to remove access to these books say they want to protect our students. They say they want to protect kids from stories that discuss rape, or sexual behavior, or drug use, or suicide.
Listen to that again.
They want to protect kids from STORIES.
Not from actually being raped, or suicide, or drug and alcohol abuse, but from STORIES about those things.
And let’s be clear—these books are NOT in the elementary school. Some of the books people were reading from at the last school board meeting are not in ANY of our school libraries. And parents have ALWAYS been able to prevent their kids from accessing young adult (or YA) books at the middle school.
Taking away the books that show students struggling, and dealing with those struggles, means taking away a window into experiences that allow us to see each other more clearly and deepen our empathy for our fellow human beings. These STORIES tell students who are struggling: “You are not alone.”
People who want to take away books are saying to these kids: “Yes, you are.”
If they really cared about teen sexual violence, they’d be teaching their kids about the importance of consent, or promoting healthy sexuality, or providing more support to at-risk families.
But they don’t really care about protecting kids.
What they care about is promoting an agenda of control, of taking away MY parental rights to decide what my students can read. They’re unfairly burdening teachers, librarians, and administrators with extra, unpaid work.
I want to protect kids. But you protect them by having conversations with them and helping them to use their own voices, think critically, and ask questions. You don’t protect them by taking away books and teaching them unquestioning obedience. That’s how you fail them.
MARNEY CLARK
Good evening. My name is Marney Clark. I live in the James Monroe district, and I am one of the librarians at the middle school. I am here tonight to politely ask the board to please respect and protect the rights of our students and their families to choose the books that they would like to read (or NOT read) for themselves. Please do not leave this decision in the hands of a few individuals to make this very personal choice for ALL of our students. Please allow discussion to happen between parents/guardians and their children about what they feel their child should or should not be reading, and why.
If a parent/guardian has concerns about a book, or the maturity levels of books, they can reach out to [my fellow librarian] and myself. We would be happy to have such open communications with a family. We would keep track of their request in our library circulation system and be respectful of it when their child comes to check out books. We are not trying to hide anything from our families or push any topics onto our readers. We are trying to provide books that cover the many age and interest levels of ALL of our KGMS students, all of which can be found in our library card catalog on our KGMS website.
Not everyone in our county has the ability to visit Smoot Library or purchase any book whenever they wish. For some of our students, the ONLY access they have to books is through our school. Please do not limit them even further by taking their choices away from them. WE respect the rights of our students and families to choose their own books. Please allow them to continue to do so without their options and their freedom of choice being taken away from them. Thank you.
YVONNE RIVERA RICHARD
I am here to express my concern and opposition to the recent discussions regarding the potential banning of certain books within our school district. As a concerned parent/citizen and advocate for intellectual freedom, I believe it is crucial to address the importance of allowing diverse perspectives and fostering a free exchange of ideas within our educational institutions.
I understand that the school board has a responsibility to ensure a safe and inclusive learning environment for all students. However, I believe that banning books is not an effective solution to addressing concerns about controversial or challenging content. Instead, it restricts students’ access to valuable literature that can promote critical thinking, empathy, and a deeper understanding of the world around them.
Our educational system should encourage students to explore different viewpoints, even those that may be uncomfortable or challenging. Banning books denies students the opportunity to develop essential skills such as critical thinking, analytical reasoning, and the ability to engage in thoughtful discussions. Furthermore, it undermines the principles of academic freedom that are fundamental to the success of our educational institutions.
I urge the school board to consider alternative approaches to address concerns about age-appropriate content, such as implementing clear guidelines for book selection and parental involvement in the decision-making process. It is essential to strike a balance between ensuring a safe environment and preserving the academic freedom that allows students to learn, grow, and develop into informed and thoughtful individuals.
I appreciate the dedication and hard work of the school board in providing a high-quality education for our students. I trust that, by working together, we can find constructive solutions that prioritize intellectual freedom while maintaining a safe and inclusive learning environment.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
STEPHANIE LYNN REINER MARSICH
Good evening. My name is Stephanie Marsich. I reside in the Monroe district and I am the mother of three children in the King George County School system. I am speaking today in opposition to the book challenges that are being made. These challenges represent more than just an attack on books. They represent an attack on freedom of thought and seek to silence certain voices. Books challenge the reader’s worldview and expose them to different experiences. By seeking to limit exposure to these books, the challenger pushes the narrative that there is only one correct way to view and experience the world.
These challenges are also an attack on our teachers, and by association, our public schools. This hostility toward certain books, and the implication that our teachers and librarians are unable to do their jobs, erodes faith in the public school system while wearing down the teachers and librarians that are currently employed. It is a shameful attack on the professionals who have dedicated their lives to education and discourages others from entering the profession.
I have heard many of the speakers state that by removing these books they are trying to protect children. In an age when gun violence, poverty, and hunger are ever-present in children’s lives, these speakers should focus their energy on donating to food pantries or advocating for increased security in our schools. Their targeting of books smacks more of political motivation rather than concern for children.
Other speakers who are in favor of removing these books have stated that while they don’t have children in the school system, they are taxpayers so deserve to have their opinions heard. Well, I’m a taxpayer too and have the added interest of children actually attending the public school system. If parental rights are so important, then listen to my voice as a parent. Do not let a handful of individuals use book challenges to undermine our teachers, librarians, and public school system.
As for the books that have been placed behind the circulation desk, I think they need to be back in general circulation. If they are allowed in the library, let them be allowed in the library. Parents would still have the option of opting their children out of those materials—they wouldn’t be able to check them out, the librarian would still be abiding by the parent’s decision—but it would remove the stigma that these books are “other” and therefore need to be separated.
CARRIE NUNEZ
My name is Carrie Nunez. I have been a fully licensed, highly qualified staff member at KGMS for 11 years. I have a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction.
I’ve taught 1,183 students in my time with King George County.
I will be speaking as a licensed, experienced educator, AND a parent.
Except for Sealston, I have been a present parent in every single school building in the county. I know our schools.
The last school board meeting made me wonder: What if educators made decisions about their students like those challenging books?
What if I wrote off kids who slept in my class or screamed in my face? Without understanding that the student who fell asleep was up late for sports? The student who yelled reached their breaking point and needed to vent to someone safe?
What if I didn’t use context? What if I stretched the truth to sensationalize their behavior to ensure they were removed from my room?
What bothers me is I don’t believe those challenging books truly know the students or care about their safety. If they did, they wouldn’t have read those passages from books that aren’t in our library, out of context, in front of the children present in the February 12 meeting.
The people who spoke against books that evening were more concerned with being right. When students go to a library, they have the power to CHOOSE what they read.
But when they come to a school board meeting, they cannot choose what they hear. They are left confused as to why the adults claiming to want to protect them will also disregard their presence in favor of shock value.
Educators value all students. And we choose our words, our recommendations, and our approaches carefully when it comes to students. We always use context.
Our students deal with more than any of us can imagine. A quick college database search yielded seven pages of scholarly articles and studies that prove books, even those with grittier subject matter, help students work through trauma and gain social-emotional skills to fill the gap left in the age of screens and social media, all while improving educational performance. Last meeting, a speaker said no such studies existed.
As a parent, I know there are bigger problems than books. If a child has access to a cellphone, they’ve already seen more than any book can describe in words.
As an educator, I know King George has a problem retaining highly qualified and experienced teachers. And that breaks my heart because pre-COVID we were a district others looked up to. Four districts came to observe the amazing things KGMS did with our independent reading program and how it helped our test scores, as well as foster a community of readers.
Now they watch and wait. What will this formerly innovative district do in the face of this challenge? Who will want to teach here if our judgment of instructional materials is questioned as though we don’t have integrity? What will you do when my children have a schedule filled with brand-new teachers and long-term subs?
My children’s education is in jeopardy. I’m worried King George County will be overlooked by qualified teachers during the hiring season when they hear about this, leaving us scrambling for a warm body to put in the classroom.
If you do not believe licensure makes a difference, I expect you to choose an unlicensed, inexperienced dentist or plumber.
My children are in more danger of being injured when a fight breaks out or hearing their peers spout filth in the hallways than stumbling upon them in text. If you knew our students, you’d know the problem isn’t books.
Please trust teachers to do our jobs and allow parents to decide what’s appropriate for our children. And make an effort to get to know our students. It will add context to this issue.
EMMA
Hi my name is Emma. I am 11 years old, and I am a sixth-grader at KGMS. I am one of the youngest readers at KGMS and am hoping you will hear me out. I have learned that two of my favorite books have been removed from our KGMS library, Divergent and Asylum. My librarians have told me that those books have been removed because they are above our middle school reading level. When I started reading Asylum I was only in fourth grade. When I heard that Asylum was removed from the KGMS library I was very confused. Having read a ninth-12th-grade level book, I didn’t read anything that was inappropriate. However, I have heard far worse things from students in the hallway than I have ever read before in a book.
The words I hear students use in the hallway are not the kind of language that came from a book at the KGMS library. I would also think about our advanced readers at KGMS who are picky with reading and no longer have books past the eighth-grade level in our middle school library. When I was in elementary school, I hated reading because none of the books interested me, which caused me to not want to read. But when some of my family members got me some books that were exciting and scary, it made me fall in love with reading. I don’t want this effect of less advanced book options to impact other students and cause them to hate reading. And there is a whole chain reaction, that students’ futures will fall starting with their grades.
I know that just because students are young doesn’t mean we should be told that we can’t read advanced books with bigger words in them or scary themes.
Thank you for listening to me tonight. Please return the higher-level books to our library.
From left, King George School Board members Ed Frank, Colleen Davis, Board Chair David Bush (NOT Ted Cruz), Cathy Hoover, Matthew Roles
