Day 4: 'Playboy' to be added to school’s reading list?

Board members from Rockville School voted 3-2 in favor of scheduling a public hearing on Friday April 18^th, during their weekly meeting, to determine the censorship of reading materials available to students in the school’s library.

A request from the school’s head librarian of $543 to update the library’s encyclopedias, magazine subscriptions and books, was met with uncertainty from the board’s president, Alfred Robertson, and secretary, Peter Bodine.

Some of the books on the list discuss topics of sex, homosexuality, and racial stereotypes, which have the potential to influence a child’s behavior in a negative way.

“A student who is violent or depressed may be pushed over the edge,” Bodine argued.  

In opposition, board member William Harold believes censoring reading materials limits a student’s learning development.

He said, “The important thing is that [students] are learning how words work and how to communicate.”

Likewise, member Denise Davis believes books can be utilized as examples of what is good and bad.

She suggests stocking the library with a variety of reading materials and allowing students to decide what they want to read. The board does not have the power to dictate what a student can and cannot read, she said.

Bodine proposed to set a public hearing to gain parents’ reactions. Board member, Maria Santana, second the motion.

Robertson, Bodine, and Santana voted ‘yes’ to scheduling a public hearing. Harold and Davis voted ‘no.’

With a majority vote of 3-2, the board second and approved the motion and the meeting was adjourned.

In other business, board members unanimously approved a bid of $12,000 for a used bus from Springfield Valley Unified School District; and the appropriation of $125 per night to house the school’s basketball team in Phoenix, AZ during playoffs.