Hempfield Area remains stuck on placement of books in school library, curriculum

Expressing frustration after months of controversy over Hempfield Area’s book policies, school board President Tony Bompiani urged his fellow directors to stop “kicking the can” and find common ground on the issue.

“We put 10 months into this, and we’ve gotten nowhere,” Bompiani said during last week’s school board meeting. “We need to do something right away.”

After an hourlong deliberation, the directors seemed to agree upon eventually enacting policies that would prevent sexually explicit books from entering or staying in the district library.

Although the district’s lengthy controversy has focused on a book challenge policy, district solicitor Krisha DiMascio recommended focusing on a book procurement policy.

“Once you allow a book in, it is a harder standard to challenge and remove a book than it is to stop the book from coming in in the first place,” DiMascio said.

A procurement policy would ensure that all books, regardless of message or cultural implications, are judged by the same standard of appropriateness, DiMascio added.

DiMascio and Superintendent Tammy Wolicki plan to work on a procurement plan for the board to consider.

The pair has reviewed similar policies from other districts in the area, DiMascio said. For example, Quaker Valley’s policy states that the district must heed book recommendations only from nonpartisan groups.

Despite the procurement policy plans, many directors still voiced commitment to reexamining the district’s book challenge policy. As the policy stands, district residents can file formal challenges to instructional or resource materials they deem inappropriate. A committee then reads and reviews the material.

Challenge policies can lead to murky waters in the legal world, DiMascio said. As residents pick and choose which books to challenge, residents with “private agendas” could challenge books based only on factors such as race, religion, gender or sexual orientation, the solicitor explained.

Other differences remain

Although there was agreement among the directors that books with sexually explicit language or images shouldn’t be in the school library, the directors didn’t come to a consensus on the extent to which books should be kept out of or removed from the district.

Some, including Bompiani, want to model a policy after the one used for Chromebooks. The Chromebook policy allows the district to restrict access to internet sites if their content is determined to be defamatory; lewd, vulgar or profane; threatening; harassing or discriminatory; bullying; or terroristic.

However, Director Jeanne Smith pointed out that books cannot be regulated the same way as electronics. She added that the policy would be “very stringent” when applied to books.

Director Mike Alfery said he believes books that don’t directly relate to the curriculum should be removed from the library. His stance elicited cheers from meeting attendees.

Numerous parents and community members showed up to express concerns over explicit books at the four-hour meeting, which also drew fire from parents upset about the proposal to permanently close Harrold Middle School.

Those who spoke out about the book policies urged the district to respect parent input, value school counselors and reject pornographic material in schools. Resident Mike Hice cited Jesus’ warning about lust found in the gospel of Matthew.

“You guys don’t want to give drugs or alcohol to kids. Why should you put pornographic books in their hands?” Hice said. “We should do what is right.”

Others expressed the same urgency as Bompiani.

“Whether you’re talking about this book policy or you’re talking about closing up Harrold, or anything else, you are not listening to the parents of these kids,” resident Tracy Miller said. “… Change this policy, get these books out of our library and make a policy that prevents them from being put back in the future. It’s time.”