School board delays reconsideration of removed books

The Mat-Su Borough School Board met on Wednesday for a regularly scheduled meeting.  On the agenda was the reconsideration of its April 22nd decision to remove five award-winning books and curriculum by the New York Times from the classroom.

According to School Board Chair, Thomas Bergey, “This was placed back on the agenda because of difficulties we’re having with Covid, the inability for the community to speak, and also, information has been brought forth that needs to be considered.”

At one point, 420 listeners were streaming the meeting online, while almost 60 people testified regarding the removal of the books.  The overwhelming majority spoke in favor of rescinding the previous decision to remove curriculum, while only a handful testified in favor of upholding it.

Those who approved of the ban, felt the district didn’t have clear standards for choosing materials or a clear definition of what was appropriate material. Public testimony wrapped up after a whopping three hours, and at 9:56pm, Board Member, Sarah Welton moved to extend the meeting past 10pm, in order to vote on the issue.  However, the School Board voted 5-2 to table the vote, and the rest of the School Board agenda, until May 20th.