A man enters the Grants Pass School District 7 Administration Building on September 9, 2024.
Jane Vaughan / Jefferson Public Radio
According to a Nov. 30 report from Director of Secondary Education Trisha Evens to Superintendent Tim Sweeney, in September two residents requested review of two books: All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson and Flamer by Mark Curato. Those residents don’t have children in the district, and they had not read the books they challenged.
The process for requesting review of a book includes filling out a Request for Reconsideration of Instructional Materials form.
The district then formed a 12-member committee to review those books, as well as two others that received complaints from the public: Beyond Magenta by Susan Kuklin and Lucky by Alice Sebold. A district representative said in a statement that these books “went through the process per directive from Superintendent Sweeney following policy KL (Public Complaints).”
The review committee included staff, teachers, administration, parents and the library media specialist.
After reading and discussing the books, the committee voted to remove two from the Grants Pass High School Library: All Boys Aren’t Blue and Lucky. The first is a memoir focusing on the author’s Black, queer identity. The second is a memoir about the author’s sexual assault.
The district has not given specific reasons why those two books were removed. A district representative said in a statement, “Each committee member had the opportunity to discuss each book and share their thoughts and reasons. Votes were cast by secret ballot.”
All Boys Aren’t Blue and Flamer, a graphic novel, are two of the top 10 most challenged books of 2023, according to the American Library Association
All Boys Aren’t Blue has been checked out six times from the Grants Pass High School library since it was purchased in October 2020, according to district data. Lucky has been checked out 37 times since it was purchased in May 2007.
Flamer and Beyond Magenta will remain on the shelves.
This decision is final unless the complainants appeal it.
The removal comes as the district’s conservative-leaning school board is working on updating its policy on instructional and library materials. The teachers union has said that policy would create the potential for censorship.
Politically divisive topics are not new in Grants Pass School District 7. In 2021, the district fired two employees when they created a video called “I Resolve Movement: Response to Gender Identity Policies.” In it, they discuss a series of resolutions regarding transgender students’ pronouns, name changes and bathroom access at school that some consider to be transphobic.
After receiving what the district claimed was nearly 100 complaints, it placed the pair on leave and later fired them for violating district policies. (The board later reversed its decision; one of them is still employed by the district).
The two women sued, claiming their First Amendment right to free speech was violated. In March 2023, the case was dismissed. In June 2024, they took the case to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, where it remains.
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