Like school officials across the country, Fox C-6 administrators have received complaints about some of the books in the district’s libraries and as a result have removed some and placed restrictions on others.
At an April 18 Board of Education meeting, newly elected school board president April Moeckel asked if the board members could be provided with a more detailed list of books and descriptions of them when bills for new book purchases are submitted for payment approval.
As part of that discussion, school board members learned that three books had been removed from the Seckman High School library, another one had been removed from the Seckman Middle School library and restrictions had been placed on a book at the Antonia Elementary School library and on a book at Meramec Heights Elementary School.
District officials said the graphic novel version of “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood, “Living Dead Girl” by Elizabeth Scott and “Nineteen Minutes” by Jodi Picoult have been removed from the Seckman High library.
The book, “Gender Queer: A Memoir” by Maia Kobabe, was removed from the Seckman Middle library, according to the district.
At Antonia Elementary, there are restrictions on who may check out “Boy-Crazy Stacey,” a book that is part of Gale Galligan’s Baby Sitters Club series.
At Meramec Heights, parents must give permission for their children to read “Something Happened in Our Town: A Child’s Story About Racial Injustice” by Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins and Ann Hazzard.
“We have a process stipulated by board policy,” Superintendent Paul Fregeau said about books being removed and others having check-out restrictions placed on them. “We utilized the process and had a committee involved. They made the judgment by having everyone read the book and having a collaborative discussion.”
Fox has 17 school buildings, each with a library.
“Living Dead Girl,” which was removed from the Seckman High library in July 2022, is a young-adult novel about a 10-year-old girl named Alice who is kidnapped and held captive for five years by a sexual predator and murderer named Ray.
“The Handmaid’s Tale” graphic novel, which was removed in September 2022, is about a dystopian future when environmental disasters and declining birthrates lead to a second American Civil War. The result is the rise of a totalitarian regime that enforces rigid social roles and enslaves the few remaining fertile women.
“Nineteen Minutes,” which was taken out of the library in November 2022, is about a 17-year-old high school student who was bullied and became a school shooter, killing 10 people.
Tammy Cardona, assistant superintendent for secondary schools, said a parent challenged all three books in January 2022, objecting to sexual content and depictions of suicide, drug use and abuse.
A parent challenged the book, “Gender Queer,” in September 2021, and it was removed the same month. The book recounts Kobabe’s journey from adolescence to adulthood and the author’s exploration of gender identity and sexuality, ultimately identifying as outside the gender binary. The parent who challenged it said the content was inappropriate for middle school students.
Cardona said the books removed from the libraries were not assigned reading for students at either the high school or middle school.
Randy Gilman, assistant superintendent for elementary schools, said a parent challenged the “Boy-Crazy Stacey” book at Antonia and another one challenged “Something Happened in Our Town” at Meramec Heights elementary during the 2021-2022 school year, and the restrictions on those books were put in place last school year.
“Boy-Crazy Stacey” is a graphic novel about a girl who has a crush on a lifeguard and keeps trying to find ways to hang out with him and in the process abandons her baby-sitting partner, Marry Anne.
Gilman said the book was not removed from the library, but it may only be checked out by students in third grade through fifth grade.
“Something Happened in Our Town” was written as a guide for parents to read and have discussions with their children. Gilman said students at Meramec Heights may check out the book with parental permission.
When a book is challenged at Fox, the principal of the school where the book is available forms a review committee consisting of the librarian, teacher, principal, patron of the district and, if necessary, a district administrator, according to the district policy.
The committee reviews the book and submits a report to the principal with a recommendation to either keep the book without restrictions, keep the book with restrictions or remove it. If the person who challenged the material is not satisfied with the committee’s decision, the complainant may appeal the decision in writing to the superintendent.
The superintendent then informs the Board of Education about the appeal, presents the review committee’s recommendation, and board members make the final decision on what is done with the book.
If the board is not asked to hear an appeal, only the person who submitted the challenge is informed about the committee’s decision, district officials said.
District parents and guardians may sign up to receive email alerts about what books their children check out of a school library. That alert system was spurred by a rash of book challenges Fox received last school year.
District officials said they received 14 requests that library materials be reconsidered, challenging a total of 12 books, during the 2021-2022 school year but none this school year.