Opening Discussion

Stu Gibson argued adnauseam to prevent any board member from making a motion that would keep these books out of elementary school in the future. He said they were not there now and the school board could only be reactive not proactive.
PABBIS: That is very consistent with his past actions supporting "anything goes at any age." It is hard to believe Gibson is supposedly a lawyer. State law gives the local school board not only the authority but the responsibility for this. Of course the school board can prohibit things proactively - student dress code, allowable language, FLE topic restrictions, use of R-rated movies in elementary school, and many other things come to mind.

Chris Braunlich recommended that the issue of what the school board can and can't do be referred to counsel.
PABBIS: We don't have much faith in Fairfax School Board Counsel. Last summer they thought that the "sexual orientation" language change proposed was legal but found out otherwise when it was referred to the state Attorney General. In a meeting last fall the School Board Counsel said they thought it would be legal to limit book challenges to those with "standing" despite the fact that state law says citizens have this right.

Growing Up Chicano

Mychele Brickner said that in this book religion is ridiculed, it is a biased presentation of religion and whatever faith parents are they need to be made aware of this because they might not want this [material] for their child. She then asked what is the avenue to warn parents.
PABBIS: There is no avenue to warn parents. Member Gibson and others who vote to keep this explicit material in middle school don't want one either. They seem to want your child to read material you don't want them to - and at taxpayer expense in the public schools.

Stu Gibson there are lots of children "whose last names end in 'Z' - we need good books for them."
PABBIS: That's an interesting way to refer to Hispanic children if that is what he meant. We don't think that many parents of these children whose last names end in 'Z' would agree with Gibson's definition of good. Click Here to see what type of material Gibson thinks is good not only for children "whose last names end in Z," but for all middle school children. Perhaps FCPS could send the parents of all children "whose last names end in Z" one of those expensive surveys to see what they really think instead of letting Gibson speculatively speak for them.

Stu Gibson said schools have subscriptions to newspapers and this book is not any more anti-Catholic than stories in the papers about priests who molest boys.
PABBIS: Wonder how much all those newspaper subscriptions cost taxpayers? Parents and students have told PABBIS that elementary and middle school students don't read them and it is really just a perk for the librarians. Not sure if we are as much of an expert on anti-Catholicism as Gibson but we haven't noticed stories in the newspapers about how a teacher's lesbian relationship with another nun transformed her from a cruel, brutal, sadistic teacher into a kind and understanding teacher who would no longer beat them over the head with her emerald-studded crucifix. Nor have we seen jokes in the paper about orgies in the rectory, how nuns "ain�t ever had a man so they go a little crazy" or how a "nun is a woman that ain�t had none."

Rita Thompson said parents need to be made aware of what is in these books. She said she was going to bring up parental notification at the next meeting and that parents don't give up their right to determine what their child is exposed to at school.
PABBIS: Makes sense. However we are sure that Gibson, Belter, Strauss and others on the board will fight this idea because they DON'T want parents to be aware of what is in the books. We predict they will blather on about how they want parents to be aware and involved but......

Cathy Belter said she was proud to see this book in the middle schools. She also said she went to Catholic school and that the boys there, but not girls, were sometimes hit with rulers.
PABBIS: Did they ever beat the boys there with a crucifix? Was your teacher a lesbian nun? Belter is a former librarian. Wonder if she still is a member of the American Library Association (ALA) who is officially against the removal, restriction, labeling or placement in another part of the library of any book in response to a book challenge. To date this has been Belter's position and is reflected in her votes. Coincidence or member?

How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents

Cathy Belter said the statement the challengers had made to the challenge committee said that Franklin MS told them that that this book would be placed on professional shelves. Belter didn't think this was the case. She asked staff what was correct. Maribeth Luftglass replied that the book was still on the student shelves and in circulation at Franklin and Herndon MS.
PABBIS: The challengers' statement said that on Nov 8, 2002 Bev Bachelor of Franklin MS told them this book had been removed from Franklin MS and that in their meeting on Nov 11, 2002 at Franklin MS with Principal Peyser, she told them that this book would be put on professional shelves. Well, now it seems that the challengers were lied to twice. PABBIS has the FCPS iBistro catalog record for How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents from after Principal Peyser told the challengers that the book would be placed on professional shelves. This FCPS library catalog record shows that How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents was placed in the professional section just as Franklin MS Principal Peyser told them it would be. We are not surprised that FCPS is dishonest and plays games with records. We wonder what Cathy Belter might have to do with this. Interesting that it was her that asked the question. ALA or not?

We think the FCPS powers forced Principal Peyser to place this book back in general circulation. The reason they did this is very simple. The challengers' committee statement says they were pleased to hear that this book would no longer be accessible to Franklin MS children and that Franklin MS was correctly following the regulation procedures for a countywide challenge and passing their challenge to the Department level. This challenge regulation is very specific that any library material challenged for countywide removal must be sent by the principal to Department level. Contrary to this regulation FCPS has refused to accept countywide challenges that a school decides to place in their professional section. In this case Principal Peyser followed the regulation correctly but seems to have been overruled by FCPS on her decision to place the book in the professional section. That decision on Principal Peyser's part just did not synch up with how Maribeth Luftglass is incorrectly interpreting the challenge regulation.

See the open letter to the school board from the challengers LettertoSchoolBoard1dec02 and its attachment LettertoSchoolBoardAttachment1Dec02 for extensive details on the refused challenges.

Chris Braunlich, Tessie Wilson and Mychele Brickner spoke and said things such as we would suspend children for this language, this is an age appropriateness issue, it crosses the line for middle school, there is explicit sex, there is drug use (mushrooms, acid, etc.) throughout the book, not appropriate for middle school, and what is the message in this book for middle school children.

Stu Gibson said drugs are taught in Family Life Education (FLE) and this book is not checked out that much.
PABBIS: Do they teach taking drugs to lose weight and that you can smuggle drugs in a Kotex as part of the middle school FLE program?

Jane Strauss said there are stringent rules, there are only 3 copies of this book, that "we" are careful, and parents and children can choose another book.
PABBIS: Do you expect parents to read every book in the school? Exactly how are parents to know when their pre-teen child should have chosen another book? After their child reads the part where "she tossed her diaphragm" in the trash after coming back from sleeping with her boyfriend? After their child reads the part where a man calls a young girl over to his car to watch him masturbate using a lasso?

Chris Braunlich asked if checked out so little why are we spending so much money on this. He said we are continually told to listen to professional reviews and the only review age presented for this book was for grade 10 and up. He asked why some members appointed to challenge review committees are clearly biased. He mentioned that the school board had a letter from a challenge committee member that stated she wants these books to remain on shelves. He said she would have been taken off if this was a jury and that the school board has an obligation that the committee members be unbiased.

Mychele Brickner asked if the challengers' letter to the school board about the [inaccurate and incomplete] review committee [record] for this book would be added to the FCPS record for this and future challenges as they requested. School board chair Isis Castro looked at Supt. Domenech as if he was the one who was making this decision and after he nodded she said yes.

Rita Thompson said we need a process by which parents are made aware.

Cathy Belter said reviews might say grade 10-12 but some (children) are far ahead in middle school and are ready for books like this and if not, they will know.
PABBIS: Some parents might not think it is Belter's or the ALA's decision that their pre-teen child is ready for a book like this. Sounds like an ALA slogan: "Never too soon for explicit material" And exactly which part will they be reading when they "know" they are "not ready?" The part with birth control pills, diaphragms or condoms? The part with a pedophile in bed with a young girl? The part with the drug use? The part with masturbation? The part with a religious statue of the Virgin Mary being sexually molested by a chained dwarf?

Cathy Belter said $2,600 per book challenge is a travesty.
PABBIS: Only sensible thing she said all meeting. Why did FCPS elect to spend $2600 to defend the use of How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents in two middle schools (Franklin and Herndon) and $2600 to defend the use of Growing Up Chicano in four middle schools (Irving, Key, Lanier and Longfellow). Why did FCPS think it was worth spending $867 of tax money per school to retain these books?

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YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK!

Growing Up Chicano

How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents

Both books recommended by Fairfax County School Board member Stu Gibson as especially good for middle school children whose last names end in 'Z'