Caitlin Morris always wanted to be a teacher.
But ever since the Rockingham County School Board voted to “temporarily remove” 57 books from schools and adopt the 2023 Model Policies in full, she’s been disheartened.
“If I were to work in the Rockingham County school district as a teacher, I would be forced to possibly out my students, which is very sad,” said Morris, a Spotswood High School student. “It would also mean that I would have to restrict their reading material. I am of the mindset that books are for everyone.”
On Saturday, Morris organized an event for fellow students, parents and other community members, to speak out against the board’s recent decisions in Court Square Theater. Touching on everything from resiliency to library policies the rally was a commitment from everyone involved to make their voices heard.
The rally was the second student-led and organized event against the board’s Jan. 8 4-1 vote to temporarily remove over 50 books from Rockingham County Public School libraries adopt the sample policies from the 2023 Model Policies to Ensure Privacy, Dignity, and Respect for All Students and Parents in Virginia’s Public Schools. The first event was a walk-out, held during advisory time at several high schools, where students shared their thoughts on the temporary book ban and model policies. The student group For the Books created by Spotswood students organized both events.
Chloe Leach, a senior at Spotswood, shared similar thoughts at both the walkout and the rally — many of the books involved LGBTQ or non-white characters, discussed topics surrounding sexuality, gender and race and dealt heavily with mental health, but prior to removing the books, the board didn’t seek out student perspectives.
As a senior at Spotswood, Leach said she didn’t feel comfortable leaving the school the way that it is right now.
“School is not politics. School is school and you go there to learn,” Leach said. “But the new school board is turning it into a political game.”
Topics covered in books like “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,” are particularly important for Jacob Kuhn, a Native American Spotswood student and member of For the Books, the organization behind the rally. Students have disrespected him or called him names based on his identity and heritage. Kuhn said books like “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” could help make other students think twice about their actions.
“Nobody should be dictating what you read. You can read whatever you want to read. You can learn about whatever you want to learn about,” Kuhn said. “Books are knowledge, and restricting knowledge is restricting learning, restricting growth.”
RCPS board Chair Matt Cross said at the board’s last work session that the book list wasn’t targeting any particular community and that it was “solely about what’s acceptable for children.” Hollie Cave, the board member that compiled the list, said books came from complaints from parents she heard, and Cross said books were removed over concerns of sexual content, profanity and violence.
Many of the books do have sexual content, profanity and violence. Some have none. A number of the books on the list that were removed were only included in high school libraries.
Regardless, the removal of many LGBTQ-themed books, in addition to passing model policies, have left some community members concerned about LGBTQ students.
In implementing the 2023 Model Policies, teachers were required to submit students who go by names that aren’t associated with their legal name. Superintendent Larry Shifflett has said the implementation wasn’t about outing kids and the division has support systems in place for transgender students who want to go by different names and work with their families.
Kai Beard said as a trans and nonbinary student, the policy could’ve shared their identity with their parents before they were ready.
While students shared their perspectives, many of the guest speakers, including parents, a retired Harrisonburg librarian and Miss Gay United States, drag queen Bianca Starr, encouraged the group to speak up and build connections within the community.
Annette Fritz, a parent of RCPS students, said she didn’t have hope in the school board or the superintendent, but had hope that the community was taking notice of the issues. Patrick Fritz, Annette’s husband, said the rally wasn’t just an event, it was a movement.
Ashley Saunders, another RCPS parent who has advocated for transgender students including her own over the last several years, said those in attendance weren’t alone in their outrage over recent decisions.
“By being here, you are challenging those in power. You will not sit back and let them take away your rights to quality education,” Saunders said. “You will not let those in power take away your right to live fully as you are and now is the time. Everyone in this room is ready to step up.”
Local community members weren’t the only ones to show their support.
Brendan Kiely, one of the authors of “All American Boys,” a book about two boys facing racism and police brutality in their community that was one of the books removed, sent a video in support of the efforts against the book removal.
“In fact, the fact that you’re standing up for a book that reflects the lives of marginalized folks in our communities, just goes to show that you young folks are already great citizens, participating in the long, great legacy of civil rights movements in our country,” Kiely said in the video.
Other authors whose books were removed from RCPS have also recently spoken out against the decision to temporarily remove books from libraries. Trudy Ludwig, author of the picture book “The Invisible Boy” sent the board a letter asking them to reconsider the book removals — Vice-Chair Sara Horst told Ludwig her book was “wrongfully caught up in the process.”
Garth Stein, author of “The Art of Racing in the Rain,” and Ashley Hope Pérez, author of “Out of the Darkness,” shared their thoughts on the local issue. Stein made a post on social media and Pérez sent a Letter to the Editor to The Breeze of JMU.
“We each exercise discretion by what we choose to read or not read.” Pérez wrote in her letter. “But please do not let a handful of folks limit access to a work of literature because they dislike it. This interferes with a core function of libraries, which is to create a space for choice and exploration.”
In the audience were two people well acquainted with book bans — Jeff Kent and Dawn Shelley. Kent, a concerned parent, and Shelley, a former school board member, both from Spotsylvania. The Spotsylvania school division was embroiled in controversy over the last several years over book bans. In 2021, the board voted to remove sexually explicit books, with two board members suggesting burning the removed books. The decision was later rescinded.
Last year, the superintendent Mark Taylor, who had no education experience prior to being superintendent, removed a number of books from school libraries and floated removing school libraries to save the district money.
“What our students and staff had to go through over the last two years, I just don’t want that to happen to anyone else in Virginia,” Shelley said.
For Kent, supporting a community through similar circumstances after fighting for change and winning in his own felt good. In the November elections, all four Republican endorsed candidates lost. Kent said people have to continue to show up and make their voices heard.
“We never had a meeting that was quite this strong in the students — student led even,” Kent said. “This is not a Rockingham County issue, it was not a Spotsylvania County issue. It was not a Virginia issue. This is a country wide effort to do these things at a local level, too, to sway voters in ways that are not at the best interests of the students.”
Issues often centering on “parental rights,” like the content included in library books and policies for transgender students have cropped up in school boards across the country since COVID-19. For book bans, PEN America identified 50 groups involved in pushing for book bans at the national, state or local level.
For Rockingham County though, Morris ended the rally with a closing speech from one of her fellow students.
“We see through your promises for parental rights and basics — basics and never got us anywhere,” Morris read. “Your version of parental rights is to bear us of our student wants. The students and teachers should have equal rights just as much as our parents and caregivers. Our lives are built here.”
