First, you need a little context. At the November Stafford Board of Education (BOE) meeting, board member Erica Bushior raised questions about a book purchase listed in the Bills & Grants portion of the agenda. Bushior initially asked why the titles of books purchased by the library had not been listed individually and were instead listed as a bundle. When Superintendent Steven A. Moccio said he wasn’t sure and would look into getting the titles of the books for the board, Bushior said, “I’ve already Googled them, and there is absolutely no way I will approve this information knowing what I’ve read about these books.” She pointed to general content warnings about some of the books contained in the Mystery High Plus bundle.
Bushior added, “Knowing our Stafford Community, they are going to be outraged when they see these books coming into our school system.”
That turned out not to be the case. Instead, at the December 11, 2023, BOE meeting, the community mainly spoke in support of library media specialists, their choices, and some of the individual books mentioned during the November meeting.
How library materials are selected in Stafford
Dr. Laura Norbut, Stafford’s Chief Academic Officer, gave a brief presentation explaining district policy for selecting library materials. (Read policies 6163, 6163.1, and 6161 for more information.) She also explained that the line item Bushior initially questioned was for a year-long subscription to the Junior Library Guild (JLG), which gives the school access to books published in specific categories selected by the library media specialist. The books' titles can’t be listed on an invoice because some have yet to be published. Librarians receive a pre-shipment of books in their selected categories to review and decide whether to keep them or ask for a substitution.
Click on the images above to expand and read more from Dr. Norbut's presentation.
Dr. Norbut stressed that the library's role is to serve the needs and interests of all students, encourage students to read, and make learning “joyful.” Moccio described other book purchases on the current Bills & Grants agenda that were listed by title because those books were being purchased to replace damaged copies — while the JLG books were not listed individually because the invoice was for a subscription, not specific books.
Transparency and parental rights
BOE member Aaron Hoffman said, “Just one piece of context is pre-dating [Dr. Norbut’s] arrival to the district… About three or four meetings ago, a member of the public came and spoke during public comment, identifying a book that was in our Bills & Grants — like we saw them outlined today — and the gentleman in public comment highlighted the fact that the book was very controversial, had been nationally criticized for its controversy… And we looked into the book as a district, and it was a district decision to remove that book from the West Stafford Library.”
This statement referred to the September 25, 2023, meeting when Stafford resident and University of Connecticut associate professor Christopher Rhoads spoke at public comment about a book called “Our Skin: A First Conversation About Race.” (You can view the meeting video here, and skip to Rhoads’ comment at about 1 hour 39 minutes into the video.)
Hoffman went on to stress that the BOE is concerned with protecting “parental rights” and that “this board is not here to ban books, but we are here to make sure that it’s transparent for the public.”
Board member Jennifer Biedrzycki said, “We really need to show our trust in [the library selection materials] process.” She also indicated that she read the three books that were initially mentioned by name — Missing Clarissa, The Lake House, and My Dear Henry: A Jekyll & Hyde Remix — and that the content warnings are broad. The books, she said, contained minimal violence and no sex scenes but did contain gay characters. Biedrzycki said that as parents of children, "We can't always shelter them" and asked how the selection of these materials fit with the district’s inclusion and excellence policies.
“We need to be providing windows and mirrors for our students,” said Dr. Norbut. “A window into a world outside of Stafford, and a mirror for students to see themselves.” She also said parents can tell their children to return a book to the library if they don’t want them reading the content.
Moccio then pointed to a similar conversation from last year regarding the LGBTQIA section of the middle school library. The district ultimately decided not to remove that section of the library.
The new chair of the BOE, Sara Kelley, said, “At no time were we questioning the professionalism of our library media specialists; it was — as Mr. Hoffman provided the historical context — specifically about how it was presented on the Bills & Grants.” She then made a statement on behalf of the board, “A board member asked for clarification on the appropriateness of content on books that had been purchased because titles were not disclosed. That was not an attempt to ban books but rather a request for transparency. It’s unfortunate that the questioning was taken out of context.”
Commenters question BOE's motive on books
The meeting then opened up for public comment, where, by my count, 13 people spoke — 10 were very concerned with the board’s actions, one spoke about the process working, and two were more supportive of the board.
Kathy Bachiochi, a former English teacher at the high school and a department head, kicked off the public comments. “My hackles go up because any signs of banning a book is completely against what I believe,” she said. “I have read all three books, and I would ask you people how many of you have read the book?” Only Biedrzycki indicated that she had. (This was the first meeting for three new members, including Biedrzycki.) Bachiochi went on to detail the content of the books and indicated that she did not see any problems with them. She said she was “appalled” at the board’s vote not to put the books on the shelves (though the board's vote at the November meeting was just about approving the invoice payment, ultimately making it more complicated and less consequential). Kelley reiterated that the board voted no because it wanted more information to make an informed decision.
Next, Justice (no last name given), a senior from Stafford High School — and library aid — spoke about how the library team curates library materials for various reading levels and interests. Justice also said, “It’s very important to me, specifically, that we have the diversity that the Junior Library Guild provides because I am also president of our Gender Sexuality Diversity Alliance, and not having that type of accessibility and having it be challenged is very upsetting to a lot of people.”
Alice Lawrence, Stafford resident, then asked, “Did I hear you correctly saying that when one parent objected to one book, that book was removed? Is that what I heard you say?” She was referring to Hoffman’s comment about a book that was brought up during an earlier public comment section.
Hoffman said that when a parent brought up a book that hit national headlines because of its controversy, the district looked into it and decided to send it back. “The professionals who looked at the book decided that it was the right decision for our district,” he said.
Moccio clarified that this was a read-aloud book purchased for review to decide whether teachers would use it, but when reviewed, the district chose to send it back.
Another Stafford resident, Carol Parker, said, “It’s not the role of the school boards to second-guess a library specialist.” The main goal is to encourage kids to read, she said, and summarized the books, once again pointing out that all three books mentioned initially had LGBTQIA themes and characters. Dr. Norbut clarified that the books were being circulated to educators who wanted to read them and were still available to students.
Lela Maciolek then got up to speak, saying, “I doubt any of my books are in the libraries at any of the schools… I would never force other people to share the costs of those books and give them to their children… A loss of three books is not a big deal to me.”
Former board chair Laura Lybarger — who was still on the board during the November meeting — then got up to speak, saying she disagreed that the board was primarily concerned with transparency. She then quoted Bushior (including the quotes used at the beginning of this article) and Hoffman, who said at the November meeting, “Can someone explain to me the need for books with this kind of content in them? Which, I think if students are getting from the public library with parental consent, is OK, but I really don’t understand why we need this kind of content in our schools.”
“That’s what concerns me,” said Lybarger. “This isn’t the first time this has come up.” She then said in September and October of 2022, assembly topics and books were questioned by BOE members.
Lybarger continued: “From those specific comments, it appears to be a short jump to future comments, asking for those books that are listed transparently on our reports, or wherever, to be removed from the school libraries.”
Lybarger then went on to spell out the roles and responsibilities of board members according to the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education (CABE), which says boards should avoid day-to-day operations. She also spoke about a webinar from CABE that addresses book bans and parental roles: "It is the parent’s responsibility to monitor what their children are reading. That conversation should be happening between parents and their children…I keep hearing and seeing parental choice and parental rights… but what we really should be talking about is parental responsibility.”
At the end of Lybarger’s comments, Kelley asked if she followed up with Bushior or Hoffman to clarify their comments after the last meeting. Lybarger said she had not because she heard what they said: “You can say this is about transparency, that’s all well and good, but this isn’t the first time that we’ve had this conversation… You guys said what you said, and it has happened before, and I am worried about the future.”
James Greene, former candidate for BOE, then stepped up to speak. He said he listened to the meeting in November: “I think it’s perfectly fine for you to come to this meeting and try to walk that back, I think that it’s just gaslighting, and it's totally inappropriate. The board members said what they said, and I think the record is really clear. There’s no amount of pushback at this point that will say that you weren’t objecting to specific content and specific books.” He also said he was shocked that the only person on the board who had read the books in question was brand new and urged the board to rely on its educators.
Public comment continued on, including an online comment from a former student (you can watch the whole meeting here — public comments start around 1 hour 56 minutes), but Danele Rhoads, a member of the Zoning Board of Appeals, ended the public comment reinforcing the board’s claim that the problem was transparency. “It’s their obligation as board members to be financially responsible to say, ‘Wait, we’re not paying for something we don’t know what it is.’”
Another hot-button issue will be on the agenda at the BOE’s Policy Committee Meeting on Wednesday, December 20, at 5:30. The committee will review the health assessment policy 5413, which you can learn more about here. The board invited the public to attend as there will be a public comment session. Keep an eye out for the agenda and more details here.
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