Citizens appeal committee decision to keep books in Newfound school library

BRISTOL — The Newfound Area School Board faced a decision of where to draw the line when the New Hampshire Right-To-Know law’s declaration that “the public’s right of access to governmental proceedings and records shall not be unreasonably restricted” clashed with concerns about possible harassment of unelected committee members making policy decisions.

Citizens have appealed the decision of an unidentified three-member committee that controversial books should remain in the school library. They also asked for the identities of the committee members “so the general public will be more widely informed as to their decision and the values they represent.”

The board on Sept. 9 came down on the side of confidentiality, so “an unelected committee, and non-disclosed committee, be taken off the hot seat and given more guidance from the board.”

The attorney general’s guidance on RSA 91-A, the state's Right-to-Know law, states, “The motives of a particular party seeking disclosure are irrelevant when conducting the balancing test between the public’s interest in disclosure and a private citizen’s interests in privacy.” The guidance continues:

“If the general public has a legitimate, albeit abstract, interest in the requested information such that disclosure is warranted, disclosure must be made despite the fact that the party actually requesting and receiving the information may use it for less-than-lofty purposes.

“Conversely, if disclosure of the requested information does not serve the purpose of informing the citizenry about the activities of their government, disclosure will not be warranted even though the public may nonetheless prefer, albeit for other reasons, that the information be released.”

At the same time, “The Right-to-Know law does not require the probing of the mental processes of governmental decision-makers.”

Superintendent Paul Hoiriis addressed the question by saying, “I don't recommend Linda [Phillips]’s suggestion that we name the people on the committee. I would take direction from the board to add the reports [the committee made] to where the board packet is published on the website so that the general public can access the findings.”

William Jolly, the school board member from Groton, argued, “They’re serving a government function, and [their names] should be public. They’re acting in a decision-making capacity, not just as an employee. ... They took on responsibility that’s going to affect kids in the school beyond the usual role that they would play, I assume.”

Jan Larochelle, the Hebron member, said, “I disagree that the names should be published. These are teachers who volunteered, and I would hate for them to become targets, should someone disagree with their findings. I would also say that, if we make them public, when we ask for teachers to take their time and volunteer for future things, they’re probably going to think twice.”

Joseph Maloney of Bristol pointed out, “Now that it’s been appealed, we’re now making the decision about that as a board, so that’s going to be public, and then we’re now going to have the final say on it, right? And so I think that kind of takes them off the hot seat.”

The appeal concerns the committee’s decision that three books — "All Boys Aren’t Blue" by George M. Johnson, "Looking For Alaska" by John Green, and "Gender Queer: A Memoir" by Maia Kobabe — should remain in the high school library despite containing sexually explicit passages that led book reviewers to recommend them for 17- and 18-year-olds.

Ariel Maloney, who was chair of the high school English Department in March when the issue arose and now serves as curriculum coordinator for the district, argued the explicit passages are taken out of context and are “not sexy” in any way.

School board policy proscribes the appeal process: Any complaint goes first to the superintendent and, if the party remains unsatisfied, the superintendent’s decision can be appealed to the school board. Hoiriis said it would not be proper for him to weigh in because he was serving as high school principal at the time of the complaint. The appeal, therefore, went directly to the school board.

At the meeting on Sept. 9, New Hampton board member Francine Wendelboe suggested delaying a decision on the appeal until board members had a chance to read the books for themselves. The board went along with that suggestion, but when Hoiriis offered to get copies of the books to other board members, no one expressed an interest in obtaining one.

The report

Gary and Linda Phillips of Bristol filed the initial objection to the three books last spring, writing, “We have read parts of these books that have set off alarm bells that taxpayer funds are used to damage (in some cases) destroy children.”

In their estimation, the books “promote sexual experimentation and normalization, along with grooming minor children without parental knowledge or consent” and “The preponderance of these explicit & graphic, to the point of instruction for sex acts & dangling these activities for minor children damages them & creates unhealthy sexual appetites that not only affects them [but] others they invite to the ‘game of sexual exploitation.’”

According to the report by the three-person “challenge committee” that reviewed the books, which the superintendent publicly released on Sept. 13, they determined that "Looking For Alaska," rather than promoting sex, delivers the message of waiting to be ready, and that it is OK for a boy and a girl to be just friends. “There is more about recognizing boundaries and limits than promoting experimentation,” they wrote in recommending that it stay in the library.

In finding the illustrations of sexual activity in "All Boys Aren’t Blue" to be permissible, the committee noted, “There are depictions (pictures) of sexual activity in other books” and “What is shared in Health/Wellness and Child Dev is quite often more graphic than what is in the book.” The pictures in the book “are cartoon-ish and not realistic” and do not meet the statutory definition of obscenity, the committee found.

In supporting "Gender Queer: A Memoir," the committee cited critical reviews of the book, saying it grapples with issues of identity and self worth and serves as “a great resource for those who identify as nonbinary or asexual as well as for those who know someone who identifies that way and wish to better understand.”

Wendelboe, in making the motion to delay a vote on the appeal, said the committee should have greater guidance from the school board in the future.

“I don’t think we should be banning the books,” she said, “but I think age appropriateness and where they’re placed in the library is something that the board should consider.”

The challenge committee’s report is posted along with the Sept. 9 “School Board Agenda and Supporting Documents” tab on the district SAU 4 website, with a shortcut at tinyurl.com/7jusyxmz.