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Union school board keeps book on shelves

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Anonymous

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Union school board keeps book on shelves

A parent of a Union Public Schools student is asking that the book "Buster's Sugartime," by Marc Brown, be removed from an elementary schools' library. Courtesy



By CLIFTON ADCOCK World Staff Writer
Published: 1/27/2010 8:29 AM
Last Modified: 1/28/2010 12:04 AM

Related story: Union parent wants book off the shelves



A book challenged as inappropriate by the parents of a Union elementary school student will remain on library shelves, the Union Public Schools Board of Education ruled Wednesday night.

The board voted 3-1 to keep the book, “Buster’s Sugartime,” which the parents said was inappropriate because it alluded to a same-sex relationship.

The issue went to the board after the parents brought their concerns to the district’s Materials Review Committee in October. The committee voted 6-1 to keep the book on the school’s library shelves.

The parents, Don and Mary Danz, then appealed that ruling to the school board.

“Buster’s Sugartime,” by Marc Brown, is a condensed version of a 2005 episode of the “Postcards from Buster” series that airs on PBS in which the anthropomorphic animated rabbit Buster visits Vermont during “Mud Season” to learn about the state and how maple syrup is made.

Most of the “Sugartime” episode is devoted to Buster’s following the children of a same-sex couple as they play, make cookies, visit a dairy, have dinner and make maple syrup. The episode was pulled from many stations after controversy erupted over showing two same-sex couples.

Vermont was the first state to legalize same-sex civil unions in 2000 and legalized same-sex marriage last year.

Of the book’s 31 pages of text and pictures, two short passages mention the same-sex couple: “Buster went to visit his mom’s friends Karen and Gillian. They had three children ...” and “Lily’s moms, Tracy and Gina, were very good cooks.”

According to the district’s review committee meeting minutes, the Danzes said their kindergarten-age son brought the book home from Thomas Jefferson Elementary School’s media center and that they thought the reference to “two moms” was not appropriate for elementary-age children.

Don Danz, an attorney, told the school board that rather than from a religious or moral perspective, his problem with the book was that it advocated a practice that is not recognized under Oklahoma’s constitution.

“For kindergarten through fifth grade, material that advocates — that’s the author’s stated goal — positions, behavior, relationships which are objectively contrary to well-established Oklahoma law” are inappropriate, Danz said.

“If a subject matter is inappropriate for a grade level, passing or surpassing all the other criteria (that would make it appropriate) does not save it,” Danz said. “The tough decision is to pull this book. Don’t make this book part of the curriculum; don’t make same-sex unions part of the curriculum.”

Superintendent Cathy Burden argued on behalf of the district, saying the book meets criteria for literature selection and that the same-sex relationship is not the central theme of the story. She said it is appropriate for children, since the book is about Buster’s adventures with the children in Vermont.

Burden said that if the board decided to remove the book, it would set a precedent that could mean other books would have to be removed.

“If legality in Oklahoma was an issue we were to use in criteria, then we would have to get rid of a lot of books in our library referencing things like pirates and robbers and cattle rustlers and many other topics that are certainly in popular fiction not only for children but for adults,” Burden said.

Board member Ed Payton said the district has students who are children of same-sex couples and that “Sugartime” is similar to other books in the “Postcards from Buster” series that portray the character visiting Muslim and Mormon households.

“I don’t see the advocacy here,” Payton said. “I see the reflection of reality here.”

Payton said changing the district's book-selection criteria to exclude books that contain material that does not fall under state law would be a mistake.

“I recently re-read a book I first read when I was in elementary school, and all the characters in it but one were advocates and apologists for an activity that is illegal in the state of Oklahoma,” Payton said. “Not only that, the main characters were engaged in burglary, theft and criminal fraud, and we would have to take that book off the shelf.”

“What book?” asked board member Scott McDaniel.

“It’s 'Huck Finn,'” replied Payton.

The group Oklahomans for Equality said earlier Wednesday that it was monitoring the issue and asked that its members politely and respectfully contact the school board members before the meeting.

Nancy McDonald, president of the Tulsa chapter of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, said in a statement from Oklahomans for Equality that it is important for the children of same-sex families to know they are accepted.

“Our society embraces all kinds of families,” McDonald said in a written statement. “Those families take on many different combinations, such as opposite sex, single parent, grandparents, same-sex, and those families can be made up of different races, religions, cultures, ages and sexual orientation.

"It is so important that our young children have opportunities to see 'their’ families displayed in reading materials, movies, plays, print and to know that the most important thing is that they are loved, cared for and valued no matter what their family structure is.”

Board members Payton, Heather McAdams and Ross Ford all voted to keep the book on the shelf, and McDaniel voted to remove it.

Board policy states that a book that has been challenged cannot come up for review again for at least one year.

The book’s author, who is also the creator of the “Arthur” series on PBS, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
 
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Anonymous

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Liveoak said:
And, what's your take on the article, PG?


Children should not be taught in public schools things that are best left to the parents and Religious teachers. When I WENT TO SCHOOL WE LEARNED ABC'S AND History math all the fundamentals that were needed to go out and succeed.

There is one goal of these people with the sick minds cram their way into the well being of the Family. If they truly were born this way they would not have to push and cram. Problem is they deep down inside cant accept their broken reprobate lifestyle..

Do a little research on gays that have been changed by their convictions. they will denounce the lifestyle and tell everyone that the goal of the homosexual community is an agenda of self seeking gratification. all the while promoting their reprobate ways.

Just for the record Liveoak I also disagree with teachers teaching sex ed to our Children and Grandchildren. Sex ed plain and simple is a family responsibility.
 

Liveoak

Well-known member
I appreciate your viewpoint PG! Traditional values clash more and more with todays values just because "rights" groups and those with aberrant lifestyles have voting rights like everyone else. And their population continues to grow. Politicians want their votes, and therefore cater to them.
 
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