Books on the Burner: East English teachers and the librarian express disapproval for recent book removals from the Gardner Edgerton High School library

East English teachers and librarian Jenny Robinson disapprove of recent book removals from the Gardner Edgerton High School library.

For the first time in 10 years, a mom from Gardner Edgerton High School sent in complaints about 11 books over the span of several months. She argued that the books include sexual content, violence and self-harm that’s inappropriate for students. Of the 11 books, one has been approved to stay, three are still being reviewed and seven have been pulled from school libraries, according to the Kansas City Star.

“Kids should be able to check out whatever they want," Robinson said. "I don't feel like one parent should be able to tell the entire school building what they should and shouldn’t be reading.”

In her 20 years as a librarian, Robinson has never struggled with parents or community members being aggressive or unfair with the library book selection. Following district policy, if there was a concern, Robinson would send the complaint to Principal Jason Peres, who would then send it to the district’s Chief Learning Academic Officer. The opposer could then formally challenge the book by filling out a form that is sent to the district board and then evaluated by the district review committee at a public hearing. This process usually takes several months.

However, Peres has never received a book complaint in his two years at East.

“We have a principal's Professional Learning Community that we meet with every couple of weeks, and no one has brought [book complaints] up at our meetings,” Peres said. “It has not been a point of concern for any of us [at the district level].”

Robinson has also never had parents file official complaints, though she has had to address minor parent concerns.

“[Book banning] doesn't really happen in Shawnee Mission,” Robinson said. “I have parents email me every once in a while concerned about a book, but that's the furthest they go with it, just that they're concerned. Our parent community is really open to different viewpoints and want their kids to see all different types of people, so I think we're lucky to be where we are.”

In order to retain parent-teacher communication, the English department contacts parents about potentially concerning required reading English books over topics like suicide and sexual harassment before students begin reading.

“We let [parents] know what is in the book, potential areas where a student could be concerned,” English teacher Kristine Tardiff said. “That way, if there was a concern, a parent could maybe approach the subject matter with the student prior to us reading the book.”

Tardiff attributes East’s few book complaints to this regulated system of teacher, parent and district communication.

“I think we haven't had so many problems with books being banned within our classrooms because we follow a process and our district for the most part supports us pulling and getting relevant texts,” Tardiff said.

Senior and avid reader Delaney McDermed believes that removing a book from libraries when students could easily access the same book online is pointless.

“It's kind of absurd because we're all in high school and we can get these books anyways, everyone has access to the internet,” McDermed said. “At this point, banning books from the library is only a symbolic thing.”