At a Sodus Central School District meeting on January 13, a discussion on how the School Board handled a rejection of a particular book came to light.  At that same meeting, a resident spoke during public participation and questioned another title as objectionable, asking for its removal.

Resident Vonda Travis introduced her concern about a book called “It Feels Good to Be Yourself: A Book About Gender Identity” by Theresa Thorn, and asked why the district needed to have this book in the Elementary School Library. Vonda stated that the superintendent is not an ally for parents in or community.

At a previous meeting, the book “The Bluest Eye”, by Toni Morrison was deemed by a  member of the public as being inappropriate and demanded it be removed from the school library.

In response to the original call for a ban on the Morrison book, the Board of Education  members discussed the process that was followed by Superintendent Kise and determined that policy was followed. The committee carried out their purpose as charged.

Some Board members shared their opinion on the value of the book pertaining to educational experience. A suggestion was made to have the book “restricted” to students of a certain age.

On the advice of the district’s legal counsel the Board of Education, stated the following: 

The Sodus Junior-Senior High School library is accessible to students and contains various multimedia for student use; and  amongst other works of fiction, the novel The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison is available in the Library; and  the District received a criticism from a resident regarding the content and nature of the The Bluest Eye, and a request that it be removed from the Library;  the Superintendent of Schools formed a committee, as required to review the material that was the subject of criticism; and  the committee reviewed the material and prepared a written report recommending the material remain in the Library.

The Board received and reviewed the committee’s report publicly at the December 2021 Board of Education meeting, at which time the Superintendent also spoke about the committee’s work; and that resident objected to the committee’s report. 

After review and due consideration of the committee’s written report, the Sodus Central School Board stated:

1. The procedures set forth in Board Policy 8330 regarding objections to instructional materials was followed by the Superintendent of Schools and the committee.

2. The committee’s report indicates a review of the material in accordance with the standards articulated by the Board in Policy 8320, and the Board finds no basis to disturb the committee’s consensus to retain The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison in the Library.

That motion carried 7-0

A further comment at a previous meeting, and repeated at the January 13th meeting, was on  community concern over an Anti-Racism Workshop available for staff.

Resident Rob Schutt spoke about staff development concerns in regard to Anti-Racism. He also requested the resignation of Superintendent Nelson Kise.

The School Board acknowledged that they were aware of the concern raised about anti-racism voluntary training available to staff, and had read over the written materials. They noted that the felt no objection to the Superintendent continuing to allow staff to attend on a non-mandatory basis. 

No additional thoughts or comments were made on that subject.