Updated 4/12/2023 – The District Board President has responded to our letter. His email stated:
Primarily, the book presented safety issues as it describes how to access unsuitable websites and other “hookup” processes. It is completely inappropriate for our students. As a result of the safety issues, we determined that the inappropriate book would be pulled. The book also contains horrible graphic and verbal details to describe sex acts. It did not go through our normal review process when it was originally ordered and placed on the shelf. Our policy was violated at that time.
We stand by our process and decisions.
This response ignores our complaint that the district did not stand by their process. District policy is intentionally designed to prevent exactly what the district did here, which was to remove books based on the opinion of a handful of people without input from administrators, librarians, teachers, parents, and students as required by Administrative Regulation 604.72.
4/6/2022 – The National Coalition Against Censorship has sent a letter to the Sioux City Community Schools in Iowa protesting their removal of Juno Dawson’s This Book is Gay from school libraries. The decision to remove the book without following their reconsideration procedures violates the district’s book challenge policies.
Read NCAC’s full letter to the Sioux City Community Schools here: