VPS's Gender Queer
Do you think this is pornography? Your help getting rid of this book from the Fort Vancouver High School Library is appreciated. Please send a thoughtful email and or phone call to Kate Burton, Sandra Zavala-Ortega, and Darci Fronk who need to hear your thoughts. This book is rated for 18 year olds and older on Amazon and in full view for 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18 year olds. Please send factual and respectful comments. We have laws around the age of someone looking at pornography. The committee claims that this books is not apart of the curriculum but it’s available for someone who wants to seek it out. Is the Bible available for kids interested in Jesus or having any morals?
Teacher-librarian email: Kate.burton@vansd.org
School Board President Sandra Zavala-Ortega email: sandra.zavala-ortega@vansd.org
Darci Fronk Director of Curriculum and Instruction email: darci.fronk@vansd.org
Darci Fronk
Director of Curriculum and Instruction
2901 Falk Road
Vancouver, WA 98661
(360)313-1020
See the response from the review committee below:
The Instructional Material Review Committee met on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023 after reading the request for reconsideration letter and included concerns about the book Gender Queer from those appealing it.
Each member of the committee read the entirety of Gender Queer to determine if the book met the criteria established in VPS’s Procedure 2021 regarding library materials and their surrounding requirements.
The committee considered the input shared from citizens challenging the book, information from the teacher librarian, and published reviews of the book. The committee also studied decisions of other school districts in Washington State.
The committee based its decision on the following criteria:
How the book is intended to be used in the context of the educational program and the audience for which it was selected;
The values and faults weighed against each other of the entire work, rather than extracting passages or parts.
Weighing the conflicting opinions based on the materials as a whole
The final decision/vote was based upon how all these factors indicate the appropriateness of the material for its intended educational use.
The committee voted in favor of keeping the book in the FVHS library based primarily on these factors:
The book is available to high school students, and the book lists the intended audience to be 16 and up
This book is not part of the taught curriculum. It is part of the library collection for students who seek it out. Students who seek out books on this topic are typically those who identify with the subject matter and characters, and finding representation and shared meaning with characters and stories in books for those who have been marginalized can be deeply important for mental health, future success and understanding of oneself.
The pages that were read at the board meeting and referenced in the reconsideration request do not represent the content of the whole of the book. While these pages (particularly the images), are not ideal and the committee agrees graphic, controversial, and at times shocking, the concerns of these pages are outweighed by the value to students of the entire work.
When the entirety of the book is reviewed, not just a few pages taken out of context, it is clear the purpose of the work as a whole is not to sexually arouse the reader or appeal to a prurient interest. Content of a sexual nature within the book, when taken within the context of the work as a whole, is to help build understanding for the reader of the experiences of someone who is gender nonbinary and the confusion and angst that can result from not matching traditional societal norms, and not yet fully understanding oneself.
We appreciate your attention and care about the educational experience of students in the Vancouver Public Schools District.
Sincerely,
Darci Fronk
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