District checks into book review policy

Danette Goulet

NEWPORT-MESA -- An uproar over three novels and a sociology textbook

has district officials rethinking one of their policies.

After nearly three hours of public debate Tuesday night, the

Newport-Mesa Unified School District board approved four controversial

books for use in schools.

The novels “Of Love and Shadows,” by South American author Isabel

Allende, “Snow Falling on Cedars,” by David Guterson, and “The French

Lieutenant’s Woman,” by John Fowles, as well as the textbook “Sociology

and You,” by Jon L. Sheppard and Robert W. Greene, were approved by a

5-2 vote.

But the battle of the books won’t stop there.

When it became evident to trustee Wendy Leece, who opposed the books,

that the many parents who shared her distaste for the material and had

come to speak were not swaying her fellow trustees, she began questioning

the system.

“I’m asking the superintendent to go back and give me the paperwork

[proving] that we did follow our policy and that the number of people who

should have checked off on the book did,” Leece said Wednesday.

Ten years ago, a similar debate spawned a policy change for

controversial sex education books, Supt. Robert Barbot said.

In 1991, a group of community members and the school board agreed that

in addition to meeting legal requirements, sex education textbooks must

each have three “cards” that would indicate that three separate teachers

wanted to use the books and had reviewed them.

Leece questioned where the three cards were for these books.

“These books were definitely controversial, but [the card process]

wasn’t required of them,” Barbot explained.

The question now, Barbot said, is whether the additional review

process should be required for all books or just controversial ones.

Leece said the policy definitely needs to be updated and that what she

would like to see put in place is a parent group that would review all

the material.

A subcommittee, which trustees Judy Franco, Martha Fluor and Leece sit

on, will study that question and eventually make a recommendation to the

board.

“We recognize that, as with all policies, they need to be looked at,

updated if you will, so that they address whatever appears to need

addressing as a result of things that take place in the community,”

Franco said.