The Hamilton County Board of Education’s special committee to address content concerns in school reading materials held its first meeting Tuesday, and members had difficulty agreeing on the group’s mission.
The committee and its chair, Rhonda Thurman, went back and forth over whether the group would address only library books or if the panel’s scope would address books in classroom libraries as well.
Thurman said she had seen some teachers bragging on social media about how they were offering “restricted books” for students to check out in their classrooms, and she wanted to prevent that. She said an outside group was putting books in classroom libraries that were not vetted by administrators.
Committee member Angela Favaloro of the group Moms for Social Justice asked if Thurman was referring to her group’s efforts. The group was part of an effort to use grant funds to supply a curated selection of books to classroom libraries in 15 local schools. Favaloro said the books, which include books Thurman finds concerning, were approved by school administrators.
Later in the meeting, Favaloro said she wanted an attorney present at subsequent meetings to clarify whether any decisions made would violate the rights of students. Autumn Witt Boyd, another committee member, said she agreed.