School Board to revisit book removal

PALMER —The Mat-Su Borough School District School Board will meet on Wednesday, May 6 and take action regarding its vote on April 22 to eliminate five books from high school English elective curriculum.

Posted on the school district website April 30, the first action to come before the board will be a motion to rescind the April 22 removal of “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou, “Catch-22” by Joseph Heller, “Invisible Man” by Ralph Ellison and “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Ponder’s motion also included the use of the New York Times Learning Network as a teacher tool. The previously scheduled School Board meeting set for April 29 was canceled.

At the board’s April 22 meeting, the board voted 5-2 to pass District 5 Member Ryan Ponder’s motion to remove the five books from curriculum. Members Ponder, Ole Larson, Tom Bergey, Jeff Taylor, Vice President Jim Hart and President Tom Bergey voted to remove the books while members Kelsey Trimmer and Sarah Welton voted against the restriction. Prior to the board’s consideration of action item 7, the first of two 30-minute portions of persons to be heard on non-agenda items will take place.

During the April 22 meeting, no members of the public spoke on the proposed reading list. Prior to the books’ arrival in front of the board in April, the books underwent multiple examinations by education professionals including feedback from parents and members of the public. A curriculum council made up of 11 classroom teachers, an english language teacher and a pair of librarians examined the books that have been used in MSBSD curriculum previously and the NYT Learning Network, as well as the NYT Journalism curriculum that was not removed from MSBSD classrooms. During the examination of literature to be used for English curriculum, the books received a 92 percent approval rating from parents. Following the curriculum council, the texts were then examined by a district council prior to the action by the board. MSBSD staff prepared justifications for classifying each of the five books as controversial, but had not recommended that any of the books be removed from English curriculum. Board President Bergey said in an interview following the April 22 meeting that curriculum review was requested by members of the board in June of 2019 after Jason Marvel was confirmed to become the principal at Wasilla High School.

“We just need to make sure that the vetting process covers all the bases and it’s out there for all to see,” said Bergey. “Hopefully we can get a process in to make sure that this never comes up again.”

Marvel’s confirmation followed a lengthy meeting where members of the public shared feelings both positive and negative about his use of controversial texts during his 17 years as a teacher in MSBSD schools, and Bergey said that Marvel’s confirmation prompted the board to examine curriculum that is typically reviewed once every six years.

Hart stated during the April 22 meeting that he feared the possibility that reading explicit passages in the books could result in Equal Employment Opportunity complaints against teachers. Bergey further articulated after the meeting that he believed Professional Teaching Practices Commission complaints could be filed against teachers using the books in in English elective courses. While MSBSD procedures require parental consent to be given to students enrolled in classes for each controversial texts, member Larson stated that he was not confident that parents are aware what content exists in the controversial books that were eliminated from curriculum.

The first period of public comment is slated as the first item on the board’s agenda, and a second public comment period is scheduled for the end of the meeting. Members of the public who wish to speak during persons to be heard on non-agenda items have until 3 p.m. on Wednesday to submit their testimony for the School Board, but no members of the public will be permitted in the chambers during the meeting on May 6.