UPDATE: ‘Sandpiper’ survives challenge (Tuscaloosa News)
The School Board voted to keep Sandpiper on the shelves of Brookwood High School’s Library, recognizing "the author’s First Amendment rights and the rights of school children to have access to books and materials that deal with sensitive issues."
However, the board is planning to review the policies in place for selecting material "to determine how [they] as a school system can better screen and prevent those books and materials which contain vulgar, offensive and inappropriate language and subject matter from reaching the shelves of our school libraries."
Read NCAC’s Letter to the School Board (12/06/07)
Read NCAC’s Letter to the Editor printed in Tuscaloosa News (11/30/07)
Visit www.tcss.net to contact the School Board.
11/27/07 Board delays vote regarding Sandpiper
The Tuscaloosa Board of Education is voting on December 10th to decide whether or not to keep Sandpiper by Ellen Wittlinger on the shelves of Brookwood High School’s library.
Sophomore Lysa Harding orginially checked out Sandpiper at the beginning of the school year and was shocked to find that it contained sexual content. She and her grandmother Pam Pennington refused to return the book because they felt it was inappropriate for high school students and issued a formal complaint challenging the book’s presence in the library.
The school board assembled a committee of a media specialist, parent, principal and two professional educators to review the book. After reading and discussion the book, the committee recommended it be kept in the library. The school board heard the committee’s recommendation and complaints from Pam Pennington recently and have since postponed their decision to the December 10th meeting.