001good evening everybody all right good evening everybody I'd like to call the special meeting of the Brookfield board of education for Wednesday July 12 2023 to order um I request that we all stand for the Pledge of Allegiance completely well thank you all for coming this is a special meeting that is was called for a specific purpose to address the reconsideration request for the book this book is gay which is in our VHS Library as accessible as an ebook through the Connecticut State Library just to recap we received a formal request for reconsideration in late April a committee was formed as is outlined by our policy we to after that they read the book in its entirety and they they met and made a decision on what to do with that book on in the
002beginning of June Mr blando will recap that report for us as a board this evening it was delivered to the superintendent and then challenged by a member of the public which is why it's here at the board all of that is consistent with our board policy and the process that we go through we've been through this once before and and we are at a point where we need to make a decision that's a board so first up tonight um appropriately so is a public comment for the members of the public who are here who would like to speak as a special meeting the only thing we can talk about is what's on the agenda so if you're here to talk about things that are not on the agenda we um there where we can talk
003about that so if for some reason we stray off course on and start talking about something else I will I'll just I'll ask you to to stay on the topic for this evening of course the discussion on the book has other broader points around it so I do expect that discussions about about topics related to the book are acceptable as well um we I will just ask everybody who's in the audience please be civil as our as we listen to each speaker we do have nine speakers number nine speakers have signed up that three minutes a piece that will be roughly a half an hour of public comment if somebody comes in um late I will let them speak that's not normally or practice but I've discussed it a little more I will at the
004end of this group of speakers I will see if there's anybody else who would like to make a comment or if somebody wants to do a review which is not a normal course but I figure from tonight's topic that's appropriate so um with that and just remember you're addressing the board to give us input relative to the deliberations we need to do tonight when you come up please provide your name and address so first up on the sign up list is Mr Zimmer yes the podium is over to the side which is instead of right in front of us because we didn't want to be filming the back of people's heads so we thought it would be appropriate so that Kathy to get the camera aimed at the podium and we'll just turn in our
005chair okay uh Aaron Zimmer 52's Hill Road uh I just I'm going to use some of my time because I just want to say that it's nice to see Amy and we've been thinking about you 've been pulling for you helping you okay how do we get here well a letter addressed to Brookfield parents circulated earlier this year and it begins dear Brookfield parents attach your excel in Word files that contain the latest search results for lgbtqia plus books in the Brookfield school libraries and the letter goes on but the rest doesn't matter because this is a clear and obvious targeting of lgbtq plus content and there is no way around that so for cover these books get characterized as pornography and you'll probably hear someone read excerpts from the book tonight as if you
006all haven't read it uh to try to drive that point home with shock value but it's not pornography and about this the author of the book this book is gay says this I would challenge anyone to be titillated or aroused by what is essentially a textbook and I think that's right is some of this book hard to stomach yeah I guess there's a chapter in there that might not be for everyone but that's the great thing about books sometimes they do that but it doesn't make the book pornography now this is a coordinated and organized attack on lgbtq plus themes and information it's happening here across our state and throughout the country and if you're an agent of this message whether you've been tricked into thinking it's something else or not you're pushing a bigoted
007agenda the board please don't remove the book sometime over the next decade maybe we're going to have one more person seek this book out because they need it and it should be there for them and to the parents who don't like this book well that's up to you to censor it for your own family if you want but you don't have the right to censor it for mine and about this exact conversation that we're all having right now Juno Dawson the author she says this it's unfortunate that queer teenagers are still still seeing that there's something controversial about them at the same time they're getting to hear a bunch of they're getting to hear about a bunch of really good books as unpleasant as the discourse is hopefully the right reader might be connected to
008the right book at the right time when they need it most and oh what's sweet irony that the book people are trying so hard to censor is only being introduced to those who might want it because of this it's really brilliant so for that Iowa debt of gratitude to those shining a light on on this book and so I thank you for that and my thanks to the board thank you next up is uh Joanne petrini 22 Taylor Street I'm a college professor in Health Sciences and I'm a mom up to recent BHS graduates come on um I appreciate the opportunity to comment I'm against Banning any books in the Brookfield Public Schools including this book is gay when preparing my comments I open the Board of Education webpage and I read the mission of
009books schools which is to inspire Challenge and prepare students to live meaningful productive lives every student is empowered to become a critical thinker Problem Solver effective Communicator Global citizen lifelong learner through rigorous relevant and comprehensive educational experiences expansive student opportunities and active Community involvement the role of the Board of Education as you know is to uphold the school's mission Inspire challenge prepare Empower critical thinking Global citizen these terms reflect ideal outcomes for our students but they're all undermined by Banning if you elect demand books you are depriving students of their right to receive information and ideas tonight you decide whether to allow to be on the book this book is gay and I've read the book which states in its summary on the back cover quote you'll be entertained you'll be informed but most importantly
010you will know however however you identify or don't you are exceptional you matter the goal of this book is to let kids know that their feelings are not wrong or weird or deviant we know that kids with questions will seek the answers by default on the internet this book is a much safer information our children's generation is much more open tolerant and accepting than ours yet our actions impact their lives members of the Board of Education you have an important decision to make please uphold the mission of the Brookfield schools to best prepare students for their future by not Banning books I'll leave you with a quote from a student Teresa O'Sullivan she says I think you think you know what's best for us but your best is based on a world that you lived
011in and we're telling you that world is not good enough we are telling you that our world will be different and your job is to help make it different I'm here to ask you to do your job thanks for your attention thank you very much next up is and he had 30 each um thank you for all your hard work I implore you for the immediate removal of the sexually explicit explicit graphic novels from can you talk louder please is an explicit how-to sex manual that somehow found a place in an educational setting the open availability of this inappropriate and sexual content circumstance parental consult our school libraries need to be free from perversion in order to maintain a safe environment for all school children not just fgbqt it's it's all kids this is not
012a politically motivated and this is not a Broadband this is an issue of a moral standard and some families choose to uphold that moral standard and how they lose their children as adults we have the opportunity to do the right thing in this case the right thing is Our obligation to protect the innocence of our 10 year olds 11 year olds 12 year olds 13 year olds and mental and physical well-being of our children this book along with many others like this do not belong in school libraries people have they can choose these books that are available in public libraries they can choose they can go rent them buy them they're everywhere in bookstores throughout the country throughout the states this is not the place for the School library to have these books thank you
013thank you it's on the list is Kerry Colombo hello Carrie Columbo 29 Huckleberry Hill Road thank you all I trust the collected knowledge and wisdom of our Librarians Library research and Library journals to determine the literature available to our students and at the general public in libraries and this includes this book is gay in fact I prefer my child's reference information to come from this collection of resources vetted by the schools and the public library above any other source because of these resources and opportunities my children have recommended books to me to read that have opened up very insightful conversations including some that were difficult but necessary subjects to discuss as a family I wouldn't change that line of communication for anything I can thank a librarian it is critically important that children see themselves
014represented in the books that they read our kids deserve to know that they're not alone and to see that they can thrive in their own lives too it is equally important that children read about the lives and experiences of people who are different from themselves we must continue to encourage curiosity and allow our children to explore the world and who they are through the lens of others it is our responsibility as parents to have conversations with our children about information that they consume from the media whether it's from our school or our public library or the bookstore or YouTube or Tick Tock or at a billboard driving down the road kids will find the information that they seek along with some that they do not it is our job as parents to help them navigate
015it all please do not remove Library resources that my child has a right to explore I'm sure that if they're not interested in the subject matter they're not going to read it I'm also confident that if they have questions about a subject trusted resources are available to them in the library for guidance and they can always ask me thank you for all that you do to ensure that resources continue to be available to our students thank you next is uh good evening as you know my name is for 37 years and a half I've lived at 198 with senior road route 25. so before I begin and I just don't want to be borrowed but there are a few people in your audience that are not expecting a request to not be rude so I
016hope that they stop it so I'll just read what I wrote but I'm gonna maybe ad-lib a little bit so in my opinion and it's documented everywhere parents absolutely have the right to restrict what their own children read and that is where the privilege ends community members on the other hand do not share that right in any interpretation of our Constitution and have one the Brookfield Board of Ed has put into place an opt-out provision for these the objective parents to this book um hold on I got rattled by that initiative maker back there so the Brookfield board event is put in place opt-out Provisions for those objecting parents so that our highly qualified school and Community Librarians can continue to work in tandem with our highly qualified classroom teachers to support all students there
017is a hundred reasons on this school librarian's webpage of why so you can probably ala thing because the library has more influence on people than anyone realizes and it's all when you start out bringing him to the preschool um book reading story time you say which book would you like to read first grade second grade third grade fourth grade fifth grade you start demanding read a book but all along would you like to read but now it's like you can't read that so what do you think they're going to do you all know and that's what happens so I hope you check out the 100 reasons kids will miss if a school librarian the Brookfield Board of Ed serving our students during a similar demand of a group of parents who objected to our health
018curriculum components surrounding HIV AIDS prevention education in the mid 90s were Pioneers in developing the opt-out policy thank you for adding library books to a policy model that has worked seamlessly all these years maybe one and it's you're right if you don't want your child to learn something and if you're not their parent you have no say in what anybody reads in a public Arena zero so it's perfect that I say I support the Librarians who do their job very well and have excellent job judgment and I mean that in selecting reading materials that align with a variety of student needs and I hope I don't get a heckled on the way back to my seat thank next up is Linda Davies hello and I hope everybody can hear me clearly can you yeah yeah
019thank you this isn't about one book this is what the name of the grocery store oh sorry Linda Davies 30 loan on the Drive Brookfield thank you this isn't about one book this is about the many books that can be made available in our libraries at any time one can be removed and tomorrow there will be another one just like it question is why do you want this material available to our children young children especially let's connect the dots books social media corporations clothing stores cell phones music Hollywood and our schools all exposing our children to unnecessary unwanted sexual material including parades of naked beds satanic pledges drag queen story hours why is the question to normalize sex at any age to make it acceptable all this in an effort to change our system of
020law merely to an act of will they are refusing to admit the existence of any objective moral order or natural law why that's why so what does this lead to millions of children LED astray in the worst cases kidnapped in trafficked bought sold raped murdered millions of children being molested by people that are supposed to be able they're supposed to be able to trust such as doctors coaches clergy family members the list is endless children who will question their own sexuality May experiment long before they are mature enough to make up their own minds this can lead to a lifetime of mental issues including the possible abuse of drugs alcohol and the consideration of life-changing physical surgical procedures and of course unwanted pregnancies shouldn't the school system along with parents be warning the children about
021the dangers of sex where are the books that teach our children to avoid unwatched unwanted touching improper conversations respecting their bodies and make them aware of the pedophiles that are out there everywhere this is being done intentionally you are the people who are supposed to be setting an example for our children inspiring their intellect not their sexuality the schools are putting our children in danger this is not just about a book the whole system is broken starting with our schools if you are against it then you are for it any logical decent person can see the evil that is happening our children are not yours to manipulate God's children are not for sale next up is Kathleen Carter foreign Carter 20 Mountain Road there's an agenda to normalize the sexualization of children parents Nationwide are
022fighting to protect our kids innocence while adults can read whatever they please the books that we're talking about depict children and adults performing sexual acts proponents of the books want them to be available in our schools and they want to expand on the gender ideolog UE you know what the word is through ideology okay through classroom curriculum uh but we by parents allowing these books in our libraries they're literally open opening the doors for adults to start speaking to your children about sex uh next we'll be teaching them about sex and classrooms and not in a biological or scientific way and then next will be videos and movies and finally these books can allow for possible sexual assault between children and teachers and school counselors and school administrators these books are clearly written for the
023gay and transgender children's community vulnerable children are targeted children currently government is trying to pass bills allowing kids as young as seven without parental consent to be able to make their own decisions about hormone blockers and surgery which cause sterilization in some cases pain for the remainder of their lives schools are pushing these books under the guise of gay and trans kids need I've heard that word they need these books that they can relate to the administration isn't on the kids side currently there's a federal lawsuit with crimes against two former female VHS students naming the leaders sitting right here in this room Brookfield is under serious scrutiny we as parents and as a community need to be on the same side every single parent here is fighting to protect their kid but parents of
024the gay and trans kids need to ask themselves is this the way you want your child to be portrayed as just a sexual object this is what they need they need to know how to have anal sex they need to know how to give blow jobs they need to know how to you know do you think do things that I don't even want to say although the books don't teach about love relationships empathy acceptance they're literally instructional handbooks with the crudest of words and acts children confused on sexuality and under gender need help from a qualified therapist the issues affect the entire family mothers and fathers are learning to accept their children their mourning their Lost Child there's emotional physical and spiritual aspects of transitioning and our community as a whole is worried about these
025kids uh changing their mind as they grow older because data shows that 80 of these kids grow out of it after puberty and some kids are subliminally coerced to believe they were born in the wrong body sex education gender issues love and personal relationships are taught in many different ways all parents must come together to protect your child from coercion and Conformity culture protect your child from sexualization protect your child's privacy and self-esteem most importantly especially the transitioning kids and the gay kids who are specifically targeted in these books that are in these libraries if we allow them in the high school they're going to go to the middle school then they're going to go to kindergartners [Applause] I think next is Austin Montana all right good evening awesome Ontario 17 Dairy Farm Drive I
026just want to start by saying no one who grew up we were always told don't judge a book by its cover right and we should not do that it should be weighed and measured by the contents Within and I hope that after you have all read and digested this instructional how-to manual because that is what is it that is what it is as the author States on page two and on the back cover I hope that you will base your decision on the content that is being communicated and crafted towards children in this manual with children in the school as young as 13 years old now as you know we make decisions with either the emotional or rational part of our brain right so the emotional brain is where fear shame guilt outrage and flight
027or flight live and Thrive it's also where we see identity identity politics rare it's ugly head we've seen this at play through name-calling and labeling of others and threats amongst other actions regarding this issue that that we're dealing with today now the rational part of the brain is where we can use logic reason critical thinking and common sense to make informed decisions as adults and this is how we should decide this issue is how we need to decide this issue it was a rational thought with thought not tied to emotion or political affiliation or what you have seen or read on corporate media a lot of that stuff is blown way out of proportion and you know after having time to have read and digest this content over the past few weeks I'm sure emotion
028has subsided and it's my hope that with honest reflection you will determine that the content of this manual is not appropriate for minors here in our school setting and as Linda said it's about more than one book it's about the future of the curriculum here in Brookfield throughout this point if you are not if you are if your vote is to not reconsider this instruction manual for removal then you are publicly stating that you are in support of the following one you are in support of minors going out to sex apps like Grindr to meet Anonymous adults for sex and to upload and send pictures to Anonymous adults obviously illegal two the hole for keeping this says you're in support of providing a detailed sex instruction manual to minors that as we know can be
029very graphic with talking about orgies and golden showers and so on and so on and at one point to the other graphic detail and really lastly um now that everybody's read the book a vote in support of this says that you're supporting the overall hate that this manual shares to different religious denominations to different people who disagree with this author and to other sects of our modern day Society why would we teach children about hate and fear and paranoia makes no sense to me so with all that being said the real questions and then at the end of the day is what adult would want to publicly support any of what I just said and more that is contained in this book especially with children involved again we have 13 13 year olds here in
030this school so I thank you for your time I thank you for this meeting tonight and I hope you guys make the uh direct decision thank you [Applause] good evening I'm Howard Lasser 116 Tower Road I'm here to address the current and ongoing challenges to books that deal with sexuality specifically this book is gay though my comments can address any book that seeks to address to respond to the questions the teens ask themselves and their classmates about sex and gender I'd like to provide some historical context as this is not the first time this issue has been before the brookfields Board of Education though I realize that none of you were part of the board when this was raised in fact except for Mr Belden and Miss Brooks I don't believe I believe many of
031you are not even in Brookfield at the time but I believe it's important for the board to know about its prior decisions and the impact it has had on a generation of kids secondly I lived in town for 42 years and I've spoken in many Town meetings in public hearings but I've never referenced my children I've always believed that it's their story their lives to share if they so desire however in this instance I have my daughter's permission to relate her experiences and I noticed that there aren't any students here and that's not surprising in given the subject matter and the stigma that might be attached to their appearance so my daughter will speak for them but more than 30 years ago the high school peer counselors initiated a program called safe zones this was
032a program where teachers who were comfortable talking to students and asking and answering their questions about sexuality without judgment we're available to the students these safe zones were identified by Pink triangles after several years of success the program came to the attention of the board and without any public discussion the board rejected this initiative and put an end to it much to the outrage of students my daughter Elise entered High School in a year or two after this program was eliminated as I mentioned I asked her if I could talk about her experiences she acknowledges her experience came from a place with very supported Network not everyone will have had that through positive experiences that she has had and she feels strongly about supporting this cause as she is married to a biracial woman and
033raising a biracial child and at this point I have to Veer off of my statement to say hi Leo my grandson who of my daughters had texted me says they're watching Leo go to sleep I'll add she is also happily employed on the faculty of the book The School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins where she received her doctor when I heard of the current challenges to these books I reached out to Elise to ask her about her experiences in high school in the absence of this support of this program called safe songs I know that our kids don't always feel comfortable talking about these issues with their parents so they seek answers elsewhere I asked her did she feel threatened did she have a place to seek answers about the questions she undoubtedly had
034and what about her friends well she says she did not feel threatened she tells me that she and her classmates had no resources other than each other there was nowhere to go no one to speak to when they had questions or didn't understand what they were feeling or thinking books like this didn't exist but if they had it could have helped answer questions all teenagers ask themselves the intent of this book is gay is clearly about helping kids who had questions it spelled out in the very beginning where it says take in what it has to say see what it helps you figure out is that not the intent of our education system to engage students to teach them to questions and how to find answers clearly teens are asking these questions of themselves of
035their friends in the absence of other opportunities why would we deny a resource to our children this board is an institution failed a generation of kids please don't make the same mistake again thank you thank you [Applause] anybody who hadn't signed up that would like to speak hearing non-public comment is closed all right so next up on our agenda we're going to receive actually the reports that the committee did and I'll invite Mr belanda up to the podium to represent his committee and share with us the findings and then we have an opportunity to ask any questions we might have [Music] and you've already I believe received this probably an email that I sent around this was a official response what I'm going to do is spend a few minutes today kind of going through
036the process of that our book reconsideration committee went through when reconsidering the book for inclusion in our collection this book is gay so this doctor you have in front of you was created on was officially sent out on June 12th in response to there was a at that point in time there had been two official challenges towards the reconsideration of the book being a part of the collection um and so I just want to review uh you can see the purpose at the top you know we two recommendation for reconsideration forms um according to the board of ed regulations 6563 which I'm sure you're all very familiar with at this point in time uh The Next Step talks about the reconsideration process itself so the process involves us reviewing the forms uh and by us
037I mean myself and the two library media Specialists review the forums and then there is conversations uh with the individuals that submit the forms to review them to ask see if there's any additional questions or any highlights that they want to make sure that we are aware of then I had to order copies of the book because it is an e-book that's offered through the Connecticut State Library Association they offer a free service to public schools that we have been a part of since December 2022. um so without a physical copy of it we have to order several copies uh then I convened the library book reconsideration committee on that committee there were six total numbers me being the one who kind of facilitated that work uh the library media Specialists were on it we
038had an administrator we had a student Support Services number and also a teacher at the high school part of that committee the first meeting was on May 5th we kind of oriented ourselves to the process as to what we're going to do you know we talked about the Board of Ed policy and regulations specifically about selection criteria were highlighted but we reviewed all those documents we also I provided them with a list of book reviews that were provided by the library media Specialists as part of their work I distributed the book and set the next meeting date based on the time it would take these volunteers to read the book thoroughly and then we'd come back and have a discussion part of that conversation as well and setting the stage that was really important for
039us is to really look at this to be devoid of personal opinions their own personal feelings were and really approach it as a whole book not just an individual passage which sometimes can be referred to out of context so we're looking at the worthiness of the entire book that was the two of the pieces that were really important when it came to our discussion which is about a month later not a month exactly a month later on June 5th the process um really that a librarian would use to determine if they would add any book to a collection and where does that process start and so what they do is they actually start by reading reviews of different books from different sources and so we took a look and we talked about the reviews that
040were read and typically what would happen is one of two things when you read a summer reviews about any particular book that you know they the Librarians actually take feedback from teachers from students about how to add or you know enhance the collection and rather than just buying it wholesale they're going to start with reviews that's the process of library media Specialist or teacher librarian and so we started there and said after reading those reviews is this something that you would as a committee if you were charged with that does this look like something you'd want to at least purchase and read and then talk about the next steps the committee unanimously agreed that based on the reviews the professional reviews this would be something that we'd be interested in looking at so that was
041that conversation you know and we went through the entire selection criteria that's outlined in the regulation in terms of whether a book meets a selection criteria and then we talked about a decision we talked about subtleties of the book we talked about different chapters we've talked about things from start to finish but really talked about the book entirely in context and had to come with a decision whether it was going to be we'd recommend removal or keep in the committee and the um ebook system and then the next step last step was obviously to provide that summary document to the superintendent that outlined the process which is what you see here so the committee did make the determination at that point in time that the book should that no action should be taken the books
042remain to be accessible through the e-book system in the Connecticut State library and there's a couple pieces of rationale that I'll certainly highlight um and we really try to take a look at it from this perspective because you know the superintendent and the assistant superintendent I will say consistently remind me right when I have a question about anything and they they'll nod they say go to policy go to regulation start there and then we move on so this is what we did that same thing so I looked at the regulation we looked at the policies and it clearly states in regulation 6563 the Board of Ed endorses the American Library Association Bill of Rights and so specifically it provides this book provides a background of information and provides quality materials an opposing viewpoint the second
043page representing many different voices in our world community and provides a broad range of materials and then we talked about a second component of that was about the acquisition criteria so it meets and aligns to the American Library Association standards but then that's great it doesn't meet the selection criteria that are also outlined and it does across the board from authoritativeness and accuracy reputation of the author relevance and significance Clarity you can see the list it goes all the way down you know price format physical durability doesn't really play into it but it is something that's in the regulations it's an e-book so it's really easy to check that box from that perspective um and so we went through that and then we also looked at the addendum uh for the board in 6563 and
044I think there's important things to highlight there and it says the Brookfield Board of Education recognizes the right of an individual parent or Guardian to request that his or her child's Library selection be limited it's always the right of the parent always going to be that doesn't change and then the second part is residents do not have the right to determine Library materials for students other than their own so that was the official report that I sent to the superintendent who then after receiving an appeal I went directly to the board and we're here before you say so I'm happy to answer any questions you might have or anything that might help for you hold on to your official discussion here all right so I'll open it up to the board members for questions but
045when we start with the first one so amongst your committee what's their unanimity on the recommendations across the board I have 20 questions so I'll just kind of pace myself yep I'm just referencing the rationale yep sure could you provide um how you came to the collusion that it enables students to make intelligent judgments in their daily lives or how it provides opposing points of views and the second bullet or how it develops critical analytical skills I'm just curious if you have any specific examples that the committee came up with well I mean sure So reading through the book right in terms of that first bullet talks about providing a background of information you know um there's been a lot of comments and speakers and people have talked about the nature of the book and
046what it talks about um it does provide accurate resources in terms of background of information and students that make intelligent judgments on their decisions on their daily lives I think that's a natural connection if somebody's going to read this book They're going to provide it with a any number of different bullet points of information if they have questions and it's the structure of the book is such I don't like the term instruction manual because it really isn't an instruction manual I know some people have said that before but I don't perceive that in order to committee and perceived as an instruction manual um something as simple as understanding um the use of the term gay right and how that can be used multiple different ways or somebody who is considered like who would use the
047term queer right which is something that is accepted by certain members of the community depending on where you consider yourself versus others so even just common etiquette of how to do that that is in there in the first probably first second the first two chapters I think that's in there in terms of background of information um and then you know the fact that it is in a opposing point of view certainly I think that's been Illustrated here by many people talking about um they disagree with it it doesn't go along with one of the sections um there's several sections in that book uh one that talks about how to work with or how to talk to people who may disagree with you from other religious backgrounds I think that's often been misrepresented in Communications here
048it's not that a particular religion is bad it's how do you deal with somebody who is of that particular Faith how do you communicate how do you have those conversations that helps kids make Intelligent Decisions and we have a lot of kids here in this building that as a previous speaker said would never come out in public it's not your time for questions mark that says how to argue so Mr Montero sorry this is not a give and take I know it misfolding the book so there are many students who would never forward who are looking for any type of resource of how to deal with things that they're feeling or thinking right and so this provides a lot of different opportunities for kids to do that provides a differing Viewpoint from something that they
049may not have seen um and then what was some of the other things you were looking for joy so on the last bullet provides a broad range of materials on diverse and are controversial issues to help students develop critical analytical skills and assure a comprehensive collection appropriate for users of the library right so you know in terms of developing critical analytical skills um you know our expectation is this is this is this could there's a lot of conversation about kids looking at this and saying um okay uh maybe I'm in particular questioning or I'm not sure or I'm having a feeling I'm looking for a resource right there's a lot of conversation about those the kids that might be toxic access in this book there's other students that might also access that book that are
050wondering the same things that could be considered themselves to be straight and not of any not gay according to this book but would look for other understanding and so they might look and say okay I never really thought about it from that perspective I never thought about how I might communicate with somebody how my language particularly that I choose to use might be something that may not be helpful to people that I know or in circles that I work through or friend people I'm friends with so that would be one of the examples I would say no and the third one what did the committee feel that represented the different voices in the world Community especially with regard to gender race class ethnicity cultural and religious groups well because it's the inclusion of this book
051in and of itself is representative of a different group of kids or somebody that might they might connect with differently if you have we're looking to develop a collection that represents a myriad the inclusion of this book in our collection represents a different student than than other students might be exposed to so that's how it represents a world view and just one more question going back to the first bullet was there any discussion with committee that the book encourages not the judgments based on certain statements made what force it would lead a child to not make it the judgment decision no there was no discussion about that did the teacher Librarians mention any circulation statistics for the book How often how many times kids said yes so it's it's available through the Connecticut State library
052system so I reached out to Brad Bullis directly who was the one who oversees the Digital Collection uh just as recently as last week to kind of get the most updated statistics it has been taken out twice since December 2022 by students thank you then we know that it was students who took it that was what he shared with me in an email so I said I had a lot of questions right um although Joy asked some of the ones I was going to ask um age-appropriateness um did you have any discussion on the recommended age range from the publisher and the American Library Association and your view of that range yeah so we did talk about that in terms of appropriateness it is classified as a why a book and so looking at that
053that comes directly from Fallout and several other resources why a looking at the age of grades 8 through 12. um you know in terms of our collection at the library we do have a myriad of grade rate of age levels right we have students that could be coming into high school at 13 years old and also students graduating high school that are 19 right so we have a wide range of kids even given that pretty extreme age range 13 for those younger birthdays in the fall to the 19 year old some of those the entire committee fell across the board in terms of appropriateness for a young adult book that this would fit exactly in that category to be as in the Brookfield High School library and it's only accessible to Brookfield High School students
054it's not accessible to any other school it's only at this point only Brookfield High School students is my understanding that's what I there was some comments earlier about younger age as I was one of the one I think that's not available yeah so students have to log in to take the book out they would have to log in using their username and password through Brookfield High School right so everybody has a unique username and password that's connected to the follow-up library system that then connects them to Connecticut State library system that allows them to use the book it has to be a registered school and if a student was not registered as a student at Brookfield High School then they wouldn't be able to take that book out so your final comment and your report
055was that residents the right on an individual parent Guardian to request his or her child's Library selection to be limited that's directly from our policy that is yes so um the uh how is that actually enabled that's a good question so you know ebooks I think pose a different because it's a it's an outside service right so I did reach out to Mr Bullis who is again the one I spoke to previously in terms of limiting um if if the determinations award was to remove the book or to keep the book if it was to remove the book what does that look like can we select a single title right from the list of books that are in the e-library system said absolutely um he had to give me more information about what would happen
056uh how he could limit kids I believe that if we're gonna do for this book in particular um because it is an e-book and it's connected to a login at Brookfield High School I believe on Follett and this is some of the work that we're continuing that we'll continue to do um we'll be able to limit those students being able to take that book out I can't speak for certain on that in terms of the e-book perspective but if it was an actual physical uh book that's in the library there is a way and a method to restrict a student who took that book and went to check it out would not be able to do so we can absolutely if an individual parent came forward and said I do not want my child to
057take out this book it is easy enough to put you know a delimiter in to the Fallout system which is our library resource material system and can limit that student from actually taking that book out of the library do we explain that to parents um we have we have not in the past certainly not but given where we are now it's something that we will certainly explore and working with the superintendent and talk about what other things we can do to start the school year it's I think at the perfect time as we get ready to come back to school in less than a month and a half or about a month and a half could be part of that back to school communication piece so we're we're interested in working with the board and
058the superintendent to come up with something that could be transparent to make sure that families and students know that there is an option that their parents do have the ability to restrict what they'd like to read or not and is that of course the ability to restrict how does that play when a child is turns 18. that's interesting I don't know that's something I would have to look into because certainly there are certain levels of things that students can and can do while they're still 18 there still are our students here right and so typically the rights that students have at 18 really transition to IEP and special education services that's where a lot of that stuff transitions over there is as the age of majority There's an opportunity for students to who are 18
059with parent permission limit and restrict certain things but communication with parents always continues so that's something I would have to certainly look into a little bit more I don't I don't know that off the top of my head in love if I may just to add to what I'm about to answer your sister at the elementary school parents have paired with the librarian handicap that has been so that has it is something we do currently to be very candid uh to what Mark's talking about I think we can advertise it better and I think this is the perfect time to have some communities with principles get the word up to parents on that they're comfortable coming forward and it's an absolute option that's their very right and we have it in our policy Endeavor do
060parents have the ability to see what their children are checking out uh with requests that we can print that stuff up they'd have to request that specifically but we could absolutely provide for parents um that request typically what happens is when we see that and that's why I know it's we're available to do that is when we do obligations into the school year if a student has a book that they've taken out that I haven't paid for or there's a textbook that's outstanding those sorts of things we can run reports and we can actually distribute those emails directly to um parents on an individual basis basis a parent request that we can run a report of the books that they had taken out okay um if anybody wants to jump in I'll ask another one
061unless you guys want to jump um all right so um process wise now the oh God I forgot I lost my train of thought that the forms that you received and the discussions that went on with the library and there were specific if I remember the format of the reconsideration partner specific concerns to the parents were all of those encompassed in your review because this looked like it went directly to the American Library Association and our policy did you all talk through the concerns raised by the parents in the region we talked through all those specifically there's a lot of questions about chapter nine right which is typically in terms of page ranges that people identified chapter nine was one of the largest ones and that was a big focus of our conversation um it
062was chapter nine because that was highlighted in both forms that were completed in addition to I believe I'm not going to get the chapter right um the budgets of the ones that was specifically about religion those are the two areas generally that were identified and so we looked at that we looked at the we looked at uh the content that was in there and we also looked at how it relates to the entirety of the book um and so it was absolutely discussions on both those topics um and significant debate or concern as you all went through the considerations on each of those questions and topics no in terms of there was absolutely there was a lot of discussion right in terms of uh questions about well what what do we teach in health right
063there's a lot of those questions we know what level of um diagrams and pictures and those sorts of things so that was a significant discussion in terms of what we do and that's mostly relative to chapter nine and then there was there was discussion it came to age-appropriateness right and at what level that was a lot of that conversation the content that was in chapter nine that that appeared to be objectionable in these two forms that were submitted um looking at that and thinking about the age range of what was in there and is that objectionable is that something that would be appropriate for young adults versus and so most of the conversation was you know really it really stuck to that 8 12 8-12 grade range that it really is appropriate for those groups
064that's my last question is there anybody also asked questions hearing none Dr Burrell would you like to make a statement of any before we board sure I'll be briefing mark thank you very much I appreciate Mark's work on this and the committee's work the board's work of all the citizens that have had their voice heard very proud of everyone also just a reminder for everyone that we updated the policy last February along with the regulation and the addendum so this is quite new it was a book challenge around that time maybe probably two years ago and about a year and a half ago now full adoption of the updated versions that we've been talking to today it's really important to remind everybody that we purposely a year and a half ago made sure that as
065a board Administration we put our values out there and one of them is the right of the individual parent regarding to a request that his or her child child's Library selection be limited is very important to remind the community our faculty and staff on the board that that is something we have in there um we do not want to be the parents of the the head there the children of their parents and the parents have every right to limit their Library selections very important statement to make the same time you've heard all the reasons that people think that kids should have opportunity to look at many many various elections another piece we are going to work as we just ended the conversation making sure parents know that that they have an option to opt their
066child out and to be very candid we're already talking with Anna and Mark and our Librarians about how we could better communicate and develop more effective processes processes for ensuring that parents are aware of what their children are taking out in maybe a more real-time manner so to that end we're doing some work already this summer on that and we would really like to have something updated for sharing with the board and sharing with the community this fall so I'll leave it at that and I thank you all for your time thank you all right board we got that we get to go work on a decision process so what I thought the best way for us to work through it is to go around the table and give everybody a chance to say their
067piece share our thoughts then we can talk about it if we'd like um I do have a prepared motion um that I can put on but I don't want to put that on until we have a chance to cancer so um so once we start sharing with you um I read it the first time I felt as if I was reading a textbook until I got to later on in the book where it was fairly granted and my first reaction was we can't let the children read this and then I thought about it read it again um I don't think we as Americans have the right to ban a book so this is a very big decision for me if a child wants to find something out he or she is going to find out
068either from a friend from the internet from all the various um things that are out there for them we might as well let them read a book that's been approved and you know a lot of parents are uncomfortable with that but there's an opt-out option the first time I read the book I thought of my grandchildren and said gee I wonder if I should let him read it or and then I said you know we're under percentage of the 15 year old and if he wants to read it I'm going to give him my cup because I think that children need to know facts not just what they hear from their best buddy in the new locker room um so I think we have to let it stay as is this particular book there are
069others that um came up through the year which I don't know if I would feel the same way but have a hard time with branding any book thank you um I'll start by saying that there were parts of the book that were uncomfortable for me to read um I don't know if my kids have read the book but I would hope that if they did read it that we could have a discussion about it and if they had questions about the content of the book I would be more than happy to sit with them and discuss it um because that's how we do things but as uncomfortable as parts of the book made me feel I feel strongly that it's our duty and obligation to provide a variety of content for all types of kids
070and all types of interests and their needs and their questions even if it makes us uncomfortable um I also think it's important to to remember that we entrust our school librarians to curate The Collection based on their knowledge their expertise and their professional reviews of the material they are the experts they're the specialists in this field and if we start censoring what our school librarians choose that I feel like we paved the way for censoring of any types of Library material what about books about Christianity that people oppose what about Harry Potter books that contain witchcraft what about people who don't want their kids reading about the Nazis or slavery we need to protect students access to books that they may see themselves reflected in or that may answer important questions for them I think
071that's our responsibility and I don't support removing this book from our library um I I have read this book a few times as well as and uh I have a hard time wrapping my my head around what principal land just said about age-appropriateness uh I think anyone who's who could read at least half this book and can say that it's the age-appropriateness is uh uh it's not so it's not even appropriate it's like it's totally unnecessary for a school setting and I hear a lot of like Banning books Banning books I sat here at a cape knitting when I was first here about and we talked about kicking out a book Clifford The Big Red doc because look at the Big Red Dog uh wore a Native American outfit for Halloween so the book had
072to be removed no one said that was Banning a book I was just making something right for the school uh I didn't think much of it until you know the previous book challenge in this book challenge but there are books that are removed by our Librarians it's not like every book comes in and stays in I also have to push back a little bit on the on the religions chapters that they are religious are ranked by how homophobic they are I don't think that's fair for a book to label a religious homophobic so there is a little there's a fair amount of hate in this book on certain groups I don't think that should be ignored I'm not saying that should be a reason to remove it but I do think it should have been
073discussed as far as accuracy there's a few things in here that aren't very there's a few statements in this book and I'm going to pick on specific statements but there's a lot of little one-liners that aren't backed by any science whatsoever I mean he there was a you're born in the wrong body statement there's a statement about a gay gene that's been that's not a thing um the the one I I still can't really get over is that porn stars are expert sex doers I don't think that this is about what I think I think there's an objectivity to the appropriateness of this material and I I kind of am taken back by the comments that found no problems like not even like maybe um you know with that said I I do hear the
074argument that we shouldn't ban books and I agree but you know we have a book discussing Christianity but we don't have library that has a Bible not really fair on that point so uh maybe we could practice a little bit more inclusive inclusivity when it comes to that I have a lot to say on this but I'm going to keep it short that's okay so I just like to start off by saying that I don't believe that this is an effort or a movement to ban books anyone who wants access to this particular book this book is gay can gain access to it from public libraries Amazon and bookstores Etc um everyone has a right to be offended but this isn't about someone being offended it's about whether or not this book provides educational value
075to our school this is not an attack on a specific group of people I didn't read it with that in mind I kept an open mind and I didn't read it as it was intended for a certain group I am a subject matter expert in this field I've been a teacher for 21 years of a master's in literacy I'm my District's curriculum coordinator in English language arts and I review literature all the time I write curriculum I attend book conferences every year I use quality literature that's a foundation on my job so one of the biggest red flags of my number one concern regarding this book is safety as board members our most important job is keeping the children of our schools safe this book promotes the grinder app Grindr Act is a hookup app
076it's not accessible until 18 years of age the author encourages and putting readers in a situation where they can be sexually assaulted or trafficked the author is promoting dangerous Behavior by encouraging and glorifying sexual con contact with complete strangers minors and adults as well as glorifying sex under the influence of illegal drugs alcohol and prescription medication also glorifying sex with people with known STDs to include AIDS and just to repeat what Matt what Mike said it really troubles me that none of this was a discussion amongst the committee Bob provide us with a very detailed information about the Miller test thank you for that for those who are unfamiliar with the Miller test it is a three-prong obscenity test that the U.S Supreme Court uses to determine whether speech or expression can be labeled as
077obscene if it's labeled as obscene then it is not protected by the First Amendment to the con United States Constitution I will go over over each of the three parts and explain how this book fits into each of the parts part one says the book is period or encourages an excessive interest in sexual matters so in other words this book promotes sexual behavior and glorifies it part two this book depicts or describes sexual conduct conduct or excretory functions in other words they are specifically talking about sexual acts that the average person would find offensive or not appropriate for school age children part three this book lacks serious letters literary artistic political or scientific value so in other words the Paulie the writing is poor this is certainly not quality literature it is not backed up
078by any scientific evidence and it makes religious assertions but portrays them as facts so in conclusion this book is gay fits the standard for the Miller test therefore there is no legal right or protection by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution this book is deemed obscene according to the United States Supreme Court this book should be removed from our school library [Applause] motivated um in one instance in very quick search I found four other books that maybe you would describe as greater literature because they're not written as a reference type material but four of those bugs are physically available in the Brookfield High School library now none of those are being talked about because they're not being regurgitated on your Facebook Echo Chambers I'm sure I'm not going to share the titles with
079you of those no need to motivate them but I also don't see the outrage in parents over phones being available all day to their children in school this book in lgbtq book this particular book has got parents outraged and when we have been publicly discussing the fact that parents do have a choice to off their kids out of not a single parent did it not a single one when they had the option and I would think that if you really cared about that option you really wanted your kid not to read this book the very first step would be to make sure that they can't check it out personally themselves but that was never done not a single one so this book does not instruct readers to argue with others it does however Advocate Advocate
080readers to make valid arguments if you don't know the difference between ballot arguments and arguing I really can't help you it does instruct readers to make these valid arguments in defense of themselves from those who choose to belittle and dehumanize them and their journey through self-discovery sexuality and gender identity personally as a parent just because I choose not to keep my child in the dark about issues that may face them or their peers and just because I choose not to shelter her from uncomfortable conversations does not mean that I am grooming her for sexual trafficking and it certainly does not mean that I do not have high standards for Behavior save the two unusually exclusive can only come from the most closed minds now what this book does do and I've read it multiple times
081it does have explicit messages throughout about safe sex always it was a constant and recurring scene throughout the book safe dating and online activity that is specific and relevant to lgbtq young adults it has definitions for common terminology discuss the difference between sexuality and gender issues it advises responsible medical and psychological treatment it emphasizes the importance of finding trusted adults and safe partners and yes it does it does it in a way that takes a very young voice that speaks to teens in a relevant non-sterile voice and welcomes openness and comfortability so we've heard a ton of the excerpts of these explicit things that are just a part of the book and I'll remind all of my board members that we should not be reviewing books on excerpts but the book as an entirety so
082I would like to read and take some of my time to read some of the other quotes that were probably never going to be shared so one so now that we've used this book to deal with your identity we need to turn our attention to bigger issues your future your career your family your kids your aspirations and Ambitions your hopes and dreams two your identity is not a definition you are so much more than just a lesbian gay bisexual queer or trans person three when you first come out or go public with a new identity be it lgbtq or a massive Project Runway fan there is a novelty and perhaps once the initial nerves are over a desire to shout it from the rooftops and you should because eventually you'll be proud of who you
083are I'm already proud of you three two loving parents equals two great parents regardless of sexual preference of gender identity four parenting should should you want to Embark down that road is the most amazing gift a human can give five every day all over the world you'll find gay men and women deeply totally in love and they have something better than sex intimacy warmth passion and love in all caps the need to be with their partner also sex does not equal love if you go looking for sex because you're hungry full of for love you'll start six and this was in all caps and noted several times throughout the book the best way to protect yourself against an STI is to wear a condom every time you have sex seven your health is your responsibility
084eight the more sexual partners you have the more likely you are to pick up an STI a sexually transmitted into nine in challenging times it is more important than ever that we come together as a community and support one another it all starts with kindness compassion and you I think by now it is very clear where I stand on this issue [Applause] thank you Rosa those were actually a few excerpts that I had planned to highlight as well and then thank you for pointing out I think someone said that there was nothing positive in this book or nothing about acceptance and I think that couldn't be further from the truth I think this book is important to have for a kid who is looking for it I have two kids at the high school I
085would have zero problem they would have no interest in looking at this book but I would have zero problem with them looking at it and I think really this just boils down to we don't have the right to censor what other kids look at we can censor for our own kids we can't censor for anyone else and I also agree that this whether people realize it or want to admit it or don't believe it's true this is targeted to a specific community and this is politically motivated [Applause] so um when I read this book three times you know um I I kept sitting in my chair reading it saying this is a great book right I mean for the person who's looking for information on the decisions they need to make until you get to
086page 200 and something right it is it's actually a little dry but it's informative and it is some of the quotes that you've read Rosa are it was it was about relationships it was about dealing with family dealing with yourself being strong making decisions it was about relationships it was about uh definitions it was about fears right and so for for a child who is facing those questions and I've known children who are facing those questions they often don't have a resource to go to and so until the famous chapter nine um it was it was a warm informative balanced book that was fact reasonably factual and and what I kept saying that if that someone's going to find this book wonderful for something that they were trying to understand this book isn't for everybody
087right let's let's be let's be very Frank with each other there's uh there there's a for a child who's looking for or how do I deal with my feelings this book is great for there's other children who wouldn't look at the titles yeah get to the chapter on ins and outs of gay sex and I'll read the opening sentence this chapter is about sex therefore it has sex in it well duh if you were a younger reader and feel you aren't ready for the finer details of same-sex parents and simply skip this whole chapter I think the author knew that that was a controversial chapter but he goes on to say she goes on to say that um that the um you never you never can talk some of these things right and so I
088tested it a little bit with my own children and I said so if you were having a book about this and they said there's nothing new in there I mean if I was in high school I would have known about all that stuff and so there's no surprises they didn't think it prurient or exciting when they looked at the chapter they said it's kind of boring the way that was portrayed so all things considered I had more positive feelings about this book than I had and what worries about this book so taken us a whole I would want this book in our libraries I'd like to donate my copy mark to the library so we have a hard copy in the library because I think it's an important book for the child who needs it
089right [Applause] so I wouldn't support keeping this book and I by the way I will also say I'll add we have great Librarians and they work hard on thinking through the issues here and Mark your committee spent a lot of time on this I know that thank you for that we need to trust our professionals as well so there's a second reason that says as a board we should be supporting our our team right in the decisions I think so and that's a heartfelt opinion about why we hire these people to do the right jobs so we all heard each other as a position anybody want to have further discussion on that before we go over promotions okay we all know where we stand so if you guys are okay I will read a motion
090and it's not short it's not overwhelmingly long but I'm going to read it pursuant to board policy 6563 and dentum the Brookfield Board of Education recognizes the right of an individual parent Guardian to request his or her child's Library selection to be limited in addition residents shall not have the rights to determine Library materials for students other than their own therefore the board moves to maintain access to the e-book this book is gay of a parenthetically available through the Connecticut State Library closed brand in the field high school library catalog as recommended by the BHS special Review Committee furthermore the board directs the superintendent to develop processes to support parental rights regarding their individual children's Library selections and report back to the board with his findings to be implemented in the coming school year I
091thought we needed to have that to strengthen up the position so that's the motion second okay it's been more consecutive would anybody like to have further discussion okay all in favor of approving the motion please raise your hand and say aye all against passes five two so we've made the decision on this I do will add a second challenge has come on another book it arrived in week or two before school was out so it was kind of a it was hard to get a committee organized as all the year-end activities were done Mark the land is working on getting that organized as we speak we as that committee is finished with their work if in fact is brought forward to the board so without objection we are adjourned [Applause]