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City parent mulls lawsuit over book
A SCHOOL LEAVES THE CLASSROOM
By Dale Bass
PAGE A6
STAFF REPORTER
dale@kamloopsthisweek.com
Dave Eagles/KTW
The Kamloops parent who complained about the use of a book in his son’s English 10 class is considering suing the Kamloops-Thompson school district. Dean Audet told KTW that may be his next move after the school district conducted a review and decided to not pull The Perks of Being a Wallflower from its curriculum. Audet said he has consulted with a lawyer who has told him, after reviewing the book, it could meet the legal standard for pornography. “If we go ahead, I can name names and there could be jail time,” Audet said. He declined to identify the lawyer, other than to say he practises in Kamloops and “is not interested in being involved with the media at this point.” The issue began in March, when Audet contacted the school district and local media with his concerns about the book, a coming-of-age novel written in journal format about the issues a new student faces at school. Audet had gone through the book page by page, compiling a list of things he found objectionable, saying the book “is clearly promoting the fact that all of the swearing and immoral behaviour and pornography should be commonplace and acceptable.” His complaint was referred to the district librarian and, he said, a committee of three librarians did the review.
“The last time I looked, it was a librarian’s job to keep books in the library,” Audet said. However, board of education chairwoman Denise Harper said she was told it was a committee of several people, including a parent representative, and not only librarians,
that arrived at the decision to retain the book. After receiving the report, Audet said he called trustees — but declined to identify which ones — who left him with the impression he should go away. “They don’t seem to care,” Audet said. Harper said she is not aware of any trustee speaking with Audet. X See DISPUTED BOOK A20
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