by Scottsdale Unites for Educational Integrity | Oct 1, 2024 | Opinion
By Scottsdale Unites for Educational Integrity |
In a heated board meeting on September 10, 2024, Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD) Board President Libby Hart-Wells declared that a “supermajority” of parents are against removing certain library books with explicit adult content. This bold statement was a direct response to a letter sent to the board on July 31, 2024, by 13 concerned organizations, with backing from former Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas.
The letter spotlighted several books in SUSD libraries rated 4 (Not for Minors) or 5 (Aberrant Content) by BookLooks.org. Among these was “PUSH” by Sapphire, available at Arcadia High School. “PUSH” is notorious for its explicit content and frequent use of strong language. The book’s movie adaptation is rated R, which would be banned in SUSD classrooms under current board policy.
An excerpt from “PUSH” vividly describes incest and sexual abuse, sparking outrage among parents and community members who question its suitability for school libraries. Critics argue that Hart-Wells’ stance is at odds with Arizona laws and SUSD policies, which prohibit providing harmful materials to minors and emphasize parental rights in education.
In response to Hart-Wells’ claim, the X account @ALegalProcess posted:
“If she has a “supermajority” of Scottsdale parents that approve of “Daddy…slap my face, pump my pussy…orgasm in me, call me Fat Mama…my pussy popping like grease…” Then we’re done here. ESAs for everyone.” – ALegalProcess
Arizona Revised Statutes (A.R.S.) 13-3506 and 13-3501 strictly regulate the distribution of harmful items to minors, while A.R.S. 1-602 and 15-711 grant parents significant control over their children’s upbringing and sex education. Furthermore, the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Island Trees Union Free School No. 26 vs. Pico supports the removal of books from school libraries for non-discriminatory reasons, such as vulgarity or educational unsuitability.
SUSD’s own policy IJL requires that library materials enrich the curriculum and uphold ethical standards, adding another layer of complexity to the board president’s controversial position.
SUSD has previously removed the books “Milk and Honey” and “So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed” due to their mature sexual content.
SUSD school board candidate Mike Sharkey appears to be part of Hart-Wells’ “supermajority” that supports providing children with inappropriate content. Sharkey launched his campaign on LinkedIn, criticizing parents who advocate for educationally valuable books in school libraries, divisively labeling removal as “book bans.”
In addition to publicly influencing the district’s library book review process, Hart-Wells also interfered with a district committee by repeatedly emailing them to remove “navel” from the list of body parts that children must cover at school.
Outgoing SUSD board president Hart-Wells has not clarified her recent actions; however, critics see the push to allow sexualized clothing and for the availability of hypersexual and vulgar books in school libraries as a concern that parents should be aware of. “This is why it is so important that parents know what their school board candidates stand for,” said an SUSD parent who requested to remain anonymous for concern of retaliation.
Scottsdale Unites for Educational Integrity is a coalition of Scottsdale Unified parents, teachers & community members committed to academic success for every student.
by Staff Reporter | Aug 6, 2024 | Education, News
By Staff Reporter |
Parents and community members within the Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD) are petitioning for the removal of sexually explicit books from school libraries.
Last week, a coalition of parents’ rights and educational organizations submitted a letter to the SUSD governing board requesting the book removals. Nearly all of the books on their list were only offered at high school libraries, with the exception of one offered at a K-8 school library.
Parents and community members involved with Scottsdale Unites for Educational Integrity, Arizona Women of Action, Restore Parental Rights in Education, Protect Arizona Children Coalition, A Legal Process, Not In Our Schools, EZAZ, SaveCFSD.org, KIDS FIRST, Mom Army, and Moms for Liberty submitted the request. Two individuals also joined the request, Shiry Shapir and Dan Kleinman.
The parents submitted their request to remove all “pervasively vulgar” or “educationally unsuitable” content from SUSD libraries to the Scottsdale Unified Governing Board, citing Arizona laws on furnishing harmful items to minors and the 1982 Supreme Court ruling recognizing that school boards maintain the authority to remove books determined to be vulgar or unsuitable for education.
The groups argued that the books don’t offer “serious educational value,” or any “serious artistic, literary, political, or scientific value.”
The parents and community members also requested that the district employ a book maturity rating system, and to prohibit future purchases of books rated not for minors or aberrant.
“This request is not to ban books,” said the parents. “All of the books mentioned in this letter are widely available in bookstores and other online and brick-and-mortar retail outlets. Schools have a limited amount of library budget and shelf space, thus the question we must answer is which books should be offered to minors and which should not.”
Per the groups, SUSD hasn’t responded to their request.
The sexually explicit books that parents would like to see removed were “A Stolen Life” by Jaycee Dugard, “Doomed” by Chuck Palahniuk, “Haunted” by Chuck Palahniuk, “Lucky” by Alice Sebold, “PUSH” by Sapphire, “Sold” by Patrick McCormick, “Tricks” by Ellen Hopkins, “Perfect” by Ellen Hopkins, “People Kill People” by Ellen Hopkins, “Identical” by Ellen Hopkins, “Icebreaker” by Hannah Grace, “A Court of Frost and Starlight” by Sara J. Maas, “Anatomy of a Boyfriend” by Daria Snadowsky, “Anatomy of a Single Girl” by Daria Snadowsky, “Breathless” by Jennifer Niven, “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” by Jesse Andrews, “Lawn Boy” by Jonathan Evison, and “Smoke” by Ellen Hopkins.
One or more of the books were located at all five high schools: Arcadia, Chaparral, Coronado, Desert Mountain, and Saguaro.
Desert Canyon K-8 school was also on the list for one book included: “Sold” by Patrick McCormick.
These books not only contain sexually explicit material, they contain aberrant depictions of sexual activities such as child molestation, rape, bestiality, sexual assault or battery, incest, adult and child prostitution, and sodomy. The books also contain descriptions of the usage of drugs and alcohol by both adults and minors, as well as suicide and self harm.
Arizona law prohibits the distribution of harmful items to minors, which includes that which contains descriptions or representations of nudity, sexual activity, sexual excitement, or sadomasochistic abuse.
Parents cited the Supreme Court case Board of Education, Island Trees Union Free School No. 26 v. Pico to make their case that SUSD had full authority to remove the contested books immediately without review.
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