Lumber Town’s School Board Spares ‘The Lorax’

Amid a flood of television lights and national press attention, the Laytonville school board on Thursday night sent a message to a packed elementary school cafeteria and the rest of the country as well: This is not the town that hates Dr. Seuss.

To thunderous applause from more than 200 onlookers--teachers, parents and students--the board voted unanimously to retain its second-grade core reading list, which includes “The Lorax,” a 1971 book by Theodor Seuss Geisel, the beloved children’s author who lives in La Jolla.

The book, about a fuzzy-headed creature who fights a fruitless battle against the devastation of a make-believe forest, recently touched off a firestorm of controversy in this tiny lumber town 150 miles north of San Francisco.

Two prominent logging families claimed the book was a thinly veiled attack on their embattled industry, claiming that its environmental concepts were too advanced for young children.

Recently, the book has been required reading for second-graders in Laytonville, along with “The Tale of Peter Rabbit” and two other books.

Dr. Seuss, who for decades has charmed young readers with his rhyming whimsy, is the author of more than 40 books such as “The Cat in the Hat” and “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”

In September, Judith Bailey, the wife of a wealthy Laytonville lumber supplier, petitioned the board to remove “The Lorax” from the required reading list, instead making it alternative reading.

The ensuing controversy struck at the growing tension between established logging families and newcomers from the big city, many of whom believe Northern California’s forests are a precious commodity that should be preserved.

Some residents claimed the loggers’ actions were tantamount to book burning. Others snickered that the woodsmen wanted to “Ax the Lorax, lynch the Grinch.”

On Thursday night, school board president William Webster spoke of the divided community when he opened the meeting by quipping, “Welcome to Family Feud.”

Two hours later--time that included sometimes-heated remarks from board and community members alike--Webster summed up the board’s sentiments to a chorus of appreciative hoots and hollers.

“For us to go into the classroom . . . to say which book you can teach . . . is about as appropriate as a group of teachers going into the woods” to decide which trees to cut, he said.

“This is an exercise in power and ignorance and futility. . . . We are insulting our children--who do we think we are kidding? . . . We are telling these children, ‘We need to protect you from certain ideas.’

“That’s in conflict with everything the United States stands for. Let’s let the teachers teach. Let’s

let the students learn.”

Local teachers said the loggers’ efforts threatened their professional integrity. Their numbers included teachers’ association members from as far away as the San Francisco Bay Area.

At first, things did not look good for either “The Lorax” or the concept of a core reading list for second graders as board members discussed alternatives for the book--talk that included moving it to the core literature list for seventh-graders.

On Thursday the board retained the books on the list and also assigned school Supt. Brian Buckley to review the use of core and extended literature lists as part of the district’s language arts curricula and to report back to the board.

In the meantime, parents who object to any literary work used in the classroom may ask that their child be allowed to read a different book, board members said.

Poll of Children

Kristen Burgess, a Laytonville high school senior, told the board, however, that the town’s children at least had no problem with the book.

More than 90% of students polled said they wanted to keep the book on the reading list, she said.

One angry parent told the board that, if the book went, so would his two children--he’d take them out of the public school.

Board members said after the meeting that they were pleased with their decision--one they said ranged well beyond the simple matter of teaching a children’s book in class.

“The issue is dealt with,” said member Mike Wilwand. “This is the first step of dealing with the broader issue of academic freedom.”

Eric Swanson, a gray-bearded, self-described environmentalist, summed up the community’s relief at the board’s decision not to do away with the book when he said:

“To do so will only make Laytonville look like a bunch of foolish morons.”

Free-lance writer Bill Israel contributed to this story from Laytonville.