Our  District's Thoughts

People In Our School District Interviewed

-Ryan Asher: Curriculum Advisor

-Melinda Caldwell: Elementary librarian

-Candida Luttrell (Mrs. Candy): Elementary librarian

-Kim Joyner: Middle school librarian

-Mona Romine: High School Librarian

Responses

What are the responsibilities of your jobs and how does it affect what kids consume/are exposed to at school?

Ms. Joyner: I am a middle school librarian.  One of my responsibilities is to curate a collection that is diverse and engaging to meet the needs/interests of all students from 6th grade through 8th grade.  Additionally, I encourage reading and developing students' literary skills and interests. In these ways my role affects what students are able to consume or are exposed to at school, but I want to be clear that library books are a choice.  Students are not required to read a book they choose from the library. 

Mrs. Candy: I serve as the Library Media Specialist (or Librarian) at Southside Elementary School. As such, I am responsible for purchasing materials (books, e-books, magazines) that students are able to check out from the library.  I choose what kids are able to access in the library as well as serve as a sounding board for materials teachers are considering for their classroom use.

Mr. Asher: I facilitate the development of curriculum at each school within the district. While schools have had some level autonomy on curriculum with SBDM councils, I have still been involved to ensure that resources used address standards.

What are you doing with your position that exposes kids to ideas that might be outside their comfort zone or normal way of thinking? 

Ms. Joyner: Children are exposed to a diverse selection of books: there will likely be books in the library that challenge some students' comfort levels, but be 100% appropriate for another group of students. 

Mrs. Candy: One of the biggest things I do that exposes kids to new ideas is just talk with them about the materials we read.  Most of the time in the classroom when reading a text, they are focused on specific lesson objections (text structure, inferencing, etc.).  When we read in the library, many times I will sit down and just answer any questions they have about what we read.  We explore a wide variety of topics.... When reading about King Tut and Egyptian embalming techniques, we had discussions about differing  beliefs on the afterlife, should mummies be placed on display since they are people not just objects to be examined, and why many times royalty married within their own family. When reading books like Junkyard Wonders by Patricia Polacco, we have had discussions about the unfair treatment of students with special needs, why society had or may still have prejudices, and bullying.  In almost all these discussions, kids have differing opinions and ideas.  Listening to their classmates explain their reasoning and getting to respond pushes them to explore.

Mr. Asher: I am heavily involved in our equity work as a district and one focus of that is to ensure that we are including diversity and diverse perspectives in our curriculum. I encourage the use of this tool linked here to help gauge the extent to which we are culturally responsive.

What are your thoughts on Senate Bill 5 passing through the Kentucky Senate, making it easier for the parent to take an issue to the board and get the media removed from curriculum entirely, rather than exempting their child? What issues or opportunities does this create for you personally?

Ms. Joyner: Senate Bill 5 is an overstep of the government to control what teachers and parents have been doing for individual cases since I started teaching as a high school English teacher  in 2000.  For over 20 years, I communicated class novel selections with parents and let parents decide if the book was inappropriate for their kiddo.  If it was, the parent and I selected another book for the student to read.  This method works and protects the curriculum that was chosen by the experts in the field (the teachers)  from being affected and having students miss out on rich learning experiences.  Not only is it on overstep, but it could cause chaos with parents challenging content that they "deem"  offensive, which is a subjective point of view: what is offensive to one is not offensive to all. 

Mrs. Candy: As a library media specialist, I am concerned with the idea of anyone (parents, community members, etc.) being able to demand the removal of media from the curriculum.  I believe that students should be able to access materials that portray varying opinions and viewpoints.  As an elementary librarian, I don't feel I will have as any issues as middle or high school librarians. For the most part, books for younger children cover controversial issues in a very respectful,age appropriate manner. 

Mr. Asher: Like many issues in today's world, it creates divisiveness, and I find that frustrating. There is an increasing lack of trust with educators and schools that I believe is unwarranted and fueled by social media. This bill could create a lot of issues as it leaves it up to interpretation about what may be deemed harmful and/or inappropropriate. With that said, I have confidence and trust in our teachers and do not feel there would be a great deal of disputes. 

As many teachers lose their jobs over this issue, do you feel at all threatened by bills like Senate Bill 5?

Ms. Joyner: I am threatened by the Bill per se, but I feel threatened by the sentiment behind it.  Teachers who are trained to educate children in  a variety of subjects have been made out to be subversive, sinister, brainwashers.  This is ridiculous.  Our culture needs to appreciate teachers for what they are: caring professionals who work to teach curriculum, compassion, and basic manners.  We are working to ensure our democracy has an educated electorate who can ask good questions and communicate civilly, especially when opinions differ. Sadly, this work is in direct conflict with our current cultural climate.

Mrs. Candy: At this time, I do not feel threatened concerning the security of my job. However, I am a little threatened by the idea of anyone being able to control the access of materials for children other than their own. 

Mr. Asher: I do not feel threatened by this nor do I think many teachers will lose their jobs. There may be some that go rogue, but the vast majority are just trying to teach the content and support their students as best they can.

If you are a parent, how does this affect your view on censorship in schools? 

Ms. Joyner: It worries me. I don't want a few loud, "offensive" parents limiting my kids' education.  

Mrs. Candy: As a library media specialist, I don't believe in censorship.  As a parent I still don't support censorship but I believe that especially for younger children, educators should work with parents when they have concerns about materials. example:  Over the years, I have had many families who don't participate in various holidays.  So I work with parents to help students avoid books based solely on those topics.

Mr. Asher: I am a parent of three Woodford students and because of my involvement in curriculum, I don't have any concerns. Again, I believe that teachers are trying to teach their content and support students. 

Have you ever read a banned book and disagreed with its status as banned?

Ms. Joyner: I've read most of them, and I almost always disagree. However, I respect every parents right to control the media their kids consumes.  I just don't think it's their right to decide that for every other parent.

Mrs. Candy:  I've read plenty of banned books. LOL.  Although in many cases I understood why some people would take offense at the ideas presented, I never agreed that access should not be provided to the book.

Mr. Asher: Honestly, I don't know. To my knowledge, we don't have a banned list in KY.

Do you think we could ever get to a “happy medium” between respecting parents’ wishes, but not censoring students’ learning? If so, what would it look like for you? 

Mrs. Joyner: I'm an eternal optimist, so I always see a path forward through the dark.  As I mentioned earlier , we had this happy medium.  It begins with trusting teachers and ends with civil discussion between the teacher and the parent when parents have concerns about curriculum choices

Mrs. Candy: Yes, I believe there is an acceptable medium out there for this issue.  Communication and an agreement to be respectful of another person's beliefs and ideas will be the two essential components. 

Mr. Asher: An approach we already take is to be transparent with our curriculum and let parents know up front what is going to be taught. I have had multiple conversations about this with parents and have directed them to visit our curriculum and instruction web page where our curriculum documents are.