To the Editor:

May 2nd I attended our local BOE meeting where the Special Committee delivered their unanimous (yes, unanimous!) recommendation that the two books currently under challenge at our high school should remain available on the shelf. The BOE has kicked the can down the road for another two weeks disregarding the professional recommendations of our district experts, superintendent, testimony from our teachers, and overwhelming community opposition of book banning.

Why do I say disregard? Because when a movement to call for a vote was brought forth, it’s the members who consistently put politics ahead of community that employed stalling tactics. *apologies to the board members who tried to do the right thing and bring this issue to a vote.

This is yet another chilling symptom of a national effort to silence anyone and enforce the concept only opinions meeting these bullies political agenda matter or are valid. Also there seemed to be more concern from the board with being labelled book banners than actually being a book banner (bananas, right?).

As chilling and frustrating as this is, what makes me want to cry and scream is the subtext of disrespect for our educators (who on majority are excellent) are the parents who have been trying to appeal for help with a real problem their kids are having in one of our primary schools. These families are being pushed to the back of the line because of a political witch hunt/smear campaign on LGBTQ+ books, books discussing race or slavery or anything else not fitting the challengers political agenda.

History is quite clear on how books bans play out and who are the losers. Today it is those families — who are begging for help — because it is their children who are collateral damage of this book banning nonsense. Real kids are being hurt and underserved because some misguided outrage about a couple of books sitting on a library shelf that a high school student 13-18 years old *might* look at or read.

Does this mean we stop pushing against book banning? No. No we do not. If nothing else this clarifies what the board should prioritize and why.

Accept the Special Committee’s unanimous recommendation; leave the books alone, don’t get labeled a “book banner,” and spend your time helping families with real problems.

“Censorship is about control,” Scales wrote in 2007 in the book Scales on Censorship. “Intellectual freedom is about respect.”

Cynthia Gaffney

Newtown