(Re: “Book-banning talk bubbles up at school board” The Progress, April 12, 2019.)
I need to set the record straight.
At no time did I ever state I wanted to ban books, or burn books, or any other such heinous practice.
The purpose of my motion was to give parents the ability to give informed consent around sexual content included in resources before it was used, not simply objecting after the book or resource had already been used for study. In fact, it was the chair of the board who characterized an Informed Parental Consent policy as “Alabama book burning in the parking lot.”
A trustee’s job is to first and foremost to represent parents. Parents have told me loud and clear that they want to be informed and be able to give consent when subject matter is of a sexual nature, which indeed should be their right. That is why I brought forward a motion to make an Informed Parental Consent policy.
I find it a ridiculous and rather ironic notion that I would ever want to ban books as my entire 11 years on the school board has been to advance the teaching of reading.
Heather Maahs
Trustee, Board of Education
Chilliwack