What is Going on in La Grange ISD?
Four books are under fire in La Grange ISD, over allegations they contain "trigger words," "vulgarity" and "sexually explicit" content. The books may surprise you.
The Fayetteville County Record reported on January 30, 2024, that the La Grange ISD School Board voted to postpone a vote, on whether or not to permit the purchase of 4 library books, under their recently adopted library book acquisition policy. The books under fire are Class Act by Jerry Craft, Can I Touch Your Hair by Irene Latham, Finally Seen by Kelly Yang and Eyes of the Forest by April Henry.
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This article is behind a paywall, but it summarizes a recent board meeting where two board members attempted to prohibit the purchase of these 4 books since they had been banned or challenged in other school districts.
The board members seeking to remove the books from the purchase order argued their position based on allegations that the books contain "key words, or the author has been banned or kicked out in some cases in Florida, Utah, and the closest is the Frisco school district.”
At least one other board member pushed back, noting that none of the board members seemed to have read the books, and voting to remove the 4 books from the purchase order request, would effectively ban them from future student access.
The La Grange ISD school board voted to postpone their decision regarding these 4 books, until the February 19 board meeting, at 6pm. Find detailed instructions about how to deliver a public comment to the La Grange ISD board here.
If you're a parent, teacher, librarian, student or concerned resident in La Grange, contact us to let us know how we can help.
Special thanks to Kelly Jensen of BookRiot who brought this issue to our attention. Follow @bookriot and @veronikakellymars for *all things* books, censorship and the freedom to read.