School Board rejects first book appeal under new Georgia law

By SHELBY ISRAEL shelby@appenmedia.com

FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — The Forsyth County School Board denied a parent’s appeal to have a book removed from a school library under an appeals process set up under a new state law.

It was the first time the appeals process under the harmful to minors policy had been implemented in the district, and the parent filing the complaint said the board has not been accessible throughout the process.

The Board of Education voted unanimously April 18 to affirm the principal’s decision to allow “Endlessly Ever After” to remain in the Daves Creek Elementary School library. District 1 Board Member Wes McCall was absent from the vote.

Parent and speaker Jonathan McCord, who filed the complaint and appeal, said the children’s book, in which the young protagonist must kiss a sleeping maiden to escape a fairytale world, encourages pedophilia to children.

Criteria for banning books

McCord’s complaint falls under one of the district’s policies that set the criteria that must be met for book challenges.

The harmful to minors policy mandates the book must appeal “to the prurient, shameful, or morbid interest of minors”; be offensive to the adult community as a whole with respect to what is appropriate for minors; and be lacking in serious literary, political, artistic or scientific value when taken as a whole to be removed.

The policy mirrors language in the 2022 state Senate Bill 226, which streamlined the process in which parents can challenge school library books. The legislation also placed the burden of the book reviews in the hands of the school principal, and community school boards may enact a final review of the materials within 30 days if the parent appeals the principal’s decision.

After the principal’s decision to keep the book in the library, McCord filed an appeal to the Board of Education for final review.

The vote marked the board’s first decision on a book under the full process of the harmful to minors policy.

When McCord’s three-minute allotment for speaking ended, he requested the board allow him more time. He said he had received feedback from only one board member during the review process.

"Now we have time, and I'm saying there's more to talk about,” McCord said. “Once again, you've chosen not to listen to the parents in this school system.”

After the vote, District 5 Board Member Mike Valdes said he studies all book reviews and appeals intently.

“I will not hesitate to vote accordingly when a book comes before me that contains content that is harmful to minors,” Valdes said.

Parents respond

Despite the School Board’s assurance, county parents and residents took to the stand to request more oversight and action on students’ access to themes they find inappropriate.

Speaker Kathy Stewart showed board members pages from the manga series “Assassination Classroom,” saying she was concerned the violence in a school depicted in the books could encourage copycat behavior in light of the March 27 school shooting in Nashville, Tennessee.

One volume, Stewart said, depicts characters saying “ready, aim, fire” to their teacher, and the March arrests of six students who made threats against schools in the district made the content in the series alarming.

"It's these types of books that add to the illusion that the graphics on a page are not reality, and what they do is harming a real human life,” Stewart said. “Is it possible that some of our students have trouble differentiating fantasy from reality?”

Speaker Jere Krischel said book publishers should censor inappropriate portions of the text, and he requested the School Board remove inappropriate books until publishers provide censored versions.

Resident Renee Clare-Kovacs spoke in favor of the district’s current process, saying she has faith in library professionals to understand what is appropriate and inappropriate for children.

Also at the meeting, board members recognized students Lakelyn Smith, Alexa Mederos-Olguin and Luke Droegemueller for their participation in the Chattahoochee and East Forsyth Cluster Orchestras.

The group includes students in the Chattahoochee String Orchestra; the East Forsyth Youth and Community Orchestra; the East Forsyth String Orchestra; the Chestatee String Orchestra; and the Little Mill String Orchestra.

“Being able to play an instrument was a fun thing overall,” Smith said. “But what really impacted me was all the bonds and friendships I had made throughout the years within orchestra.”

The School Board also adopted its 2023-2024 school year Code of Conduct, which adds an amendment to prohibit students from loitering in unsupervised areas of school campuses.