By DAVID BOYLE
Anchorage School District has a committee that secretly meets to decide if certain pornographic books, which may be thinly disguised as “educational,” should be in the school libraries and available to children.
This district has the power to say what pornographic literature is “appropriate” for students at various age levels. Parents are not needed.
The formal process noted in its Administrative Regulation AR 6144(a) appears well written, but the process itself is secret, hidden from parents and everyone else.
If an individual complains about an obscene book at the school level, the principal and other school personnel decide if it should remain in that school’s library.
But if a person complains about an obscene book that is in several school libraries, then the complaint is heard by the secretive District Controversial Issues Review Committee.
Just who is on this committee? It is heavily weighted in favor of the school district. There are eight school district members, two student members, and three community members.
This is typical of the Anchorage School District, when it comes to committee make-up. It allows the district to say, “See, we had community involvement,” even though the token community committee members are outnumbered by district personnel.
Here’s the kicker: You will never know who the majority of these committee members are, nor will you know how they were selected.
When the former Deputy Superintendent Mark Stock consulted with counsel about this committee, counsel stated that providing names may inhibit the process from occurring.
Is keeping this committee membership secret more important than the public knowing the makeup of the committee?
The district may have understandable concerns about releasing student committee names. But the district seems to have few concerns about providing controversial pornographic books to those same students.
And the school board even shut down a parent when he read from one of the obscene books. The board doesn’t want to hear what is actually in one of these books when children are present.
Here’s the worst part: Minutes of the Controversial Issues Review Committee are not even kept. Should the community be able to know the results of their meetings and the discussion that ensued? Do parents and the public not have the right to know which pornographic books meet the “educational” goal and still contain graphic sexual information? What about the Alaska Open Meetings Act?
The vote of each committee member is also a secret that flies in the face of the district’s own accountability principle: “The District will be open, transparent and accountable to the public.”
The district may be in even deeper trouble than mere transparency problems. Alaska Statute AS 11.61.128, “Electronic Distribution of Indecent Material to Minors” has very specific prohibitions including: “the person knows that the material depicts the following actual or simulated conduct:
(A) sexual penetration;
(B) the lewd touching of a person’s genitals, anus, or female breast;
(C) masturbation;
(D) bestiality;
(E) the lewd exhibition of a person’s genitals, anus, or female breast; or
(F) sexual masochism or sadism; and
(3) the material is harmful to minors.
(b) In this section, it is not a defense that the victim was not actually under 16 years of age.
The superintendent, the school board and other school personnel, especially librarians, may be subject to providing indecent material to minors, a Class C Felony.
A final report from the “anonymous” secret committee is submitted to the person who challenged the material. That report also goes to the superintendent and the school board.
How that report is written and provided to the school board and the complainant without any meeting minutes is unclear.
The final report is also placed on the district’s controversial concerns website, which is three pages clicks down from the home page.
But first, one must know where to look. Don’t try to find information by putting your request in the ASD home page search bar.
If you try to search for the controversial concerns page on the ASD home page, you will get a blank page. Here it is:
So much for transparency about pornographic books.
After some page clicking and searching on the ASD web site, one can find the controversial concerns information. Here is the secret page, known as Page/19019: https://www.asdk12.org/Page/19019.
One book was challenged as inappropriate for students is “George/Melissa” a novel for middle school readers by Alex Gino.
The initial request for reconsideration was evaluated by an ad hoc committee that consisted of nine ASD employees and no community members.
The parent’s complaint said there were two references to child hormone therapy, two references to gender reassignment surgery, and the confusing use of pronouns throughout the book.
That district committee decided to retain the book in the school libraries, including elementary school libraries. The decision on the book can be found here.
The challenging parent then appealed the decision.
Here was his major concern: “How, specifically, is the notion of a student cutting of their own penis with scissors conveyed via gesture appropriate for an elementary student?”
Here is the committee’s response: “The reference to a scissor gesture in the groin area is not by the main character, but an older sibling.”
The committee would not even use the word “penis” in its rebuttal.
The secret committee disapproved the appeal and said that this book “is not pervasively vulgar” and that, “removal of the book from elementary schools would mean restricting access for the intended audience of the title.”
It should be noted that the book, by its own publisher, Scholastic, is meant for middle school students, but the ASD is placing it in elementary school classrooms and libraries.
What else is the Anchorage School District hiding from parents and the public? We know the district is hiding at least one student’s gender identity from parents. Are there other secret committees that help a child transition to a different gender?
You can read the entire secret committee report here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kBbBcvqxk7wHrabslpt9cCxsTbVrn16L/view
David Boyle is the Must Read Alaska education writer.
Wow. This is just appalling. Thank you Suzanne for excellent reporting and research. This needs to be broadcast far and wide.
“This district has the power to say what pornographic literature is “appropriate” for students at various age levels.”
Ummmmmm, is there ANY “pornograhic” literature that is appropriate for students at ANY age level?
A fair question
Define “pornographic literature” Tom. You know it when you read it, right? Heheh!
It is defined by Alaska Statue. Look it up.
You’re the expert, why not just give it up. Not child pornography, either Tamra.
Not sure what rock you’re living under sir, but children are being exposed to pornographic literature and confusing gender ideology topics in schools. “George’s Story” is about a fourth grade boy who falsely believes he can become a girl. It promotes gender dysphoria on young, impressionable children.
“Let’s Talk About It” available at Bartlett High School and Romig Middle School has graphic illustrations of sexual acts and positions printed throughout the pages, along with comments that say “there’s nothing wrong with enjoying some porn; it’s a fun sugary treat.”
“Gender Queer” available in several high school libraries, is rated for adults 18+ on Amazon and offers graphic sexual illustrations. “Flamer” also includes graphic content and illustrations.
Since your reactions to comments are brief and sarcastic, I’m not quite sure what you’re advocating for. But if it’s to put books like these in the hands of children, then obviously you must not be a responsible or rational human being and I would highly question your motives.
Well JB, it appears you are another MRAK airhead that is outraged about something he/she doesn’t like, doesn’t understand and can’t even define it. Do keep em coming though as we can use the laughs on here.
Even our ASD has its own Deep State. Expose it, prosecute if prosecutable, ensure language banning such activities is in the Admin Regs and wherever else it is needed. Check for links to groups, the Muni Assembly, orgs, etc. and repeat the process. Ferret it out, burn it to the ground, and ensure it does not happen again.
Not only is it not transparent, it is actually INTENTIONALLY HIDDEN from oversight or checks/balances of the people en masse.
Regardless of how well written or written in haste anything written in conflict with the United States of America US Constitution is void for effect from inception. An unalienable right is familial relationships. The municipality is attempting to take this birthright of famiial relationships. A trespass of property rights of fathers. So, if there are any lawyers in town who care about Constitutional rights they need to proceed to file a public interest lawsuit in the US Court of Appeals and have that writing nullified moving for an order to remove the treasonous signers from their emoluments and have them declared unqualified to hold any emolument for life anwhere in the UNited States (before the military procedure is applied).
The word ‘electronic’ seems the only out for the ASD not resulting in major policy change. This seems ripe for a slight change in the wording from a legislative level. This article is scary and yet very revealing.
Unfathomable, but here it is on our doorstep. You can look up school library inventory and find books like Gender Queer, Flamer, and others in school libraries around the state. Not just written content but included illustrations. How is it possible that school boards prevent parents from reading a book at meetings, due to explicit content, then allow it to be given to children in schools? Governor Dunleavy, parents need your support!
If the tax payer can’t know names of people we employ then they should not have a job. We are the bosses not the school board or some individual working for the school district who thinks they know more than we do.
The ASD may want to consider retaining new counsel on this matter. Gosh – the State statute seems pretty clear and law enforcement and prosecutors might not be controllable by labor unions and other ASD toadies. I suppose ASD can take comfort in that leftist judges might help them out. But the thought of criminal prosecution would make me uncomfortable. Who knows what ASD employees might think.
Mr. Bird could have been a good resource. Let’s give him a contract anyway like the Assembly does against our stated wishes and “the alleged” charter.
How much should he be paid? Would the contract be monthly?
I think a good place to start would be to make one for Bird that matches the sweetheart deal Larry Baker got. $29500 for monthly contracts, just under the amount that needs assembly approval. And call him a contractor, but give him an office, so he can claim state retirement while still working, even though that is against state law
By the way, School Board Member Dave Donley has, repeatedly, for the past year requested minutes and membership of the Controversial Concerns Committee. No other board member has taken the trouble to do the same. The district has not responded to Donley’s request.
It was informative, and hardly surprising, to see the photo of the creature/author of the groomer book in question.
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Not infrequently, the body is the mirror of the soul. That certainly seems to be the case here.
But, but, but …
We were told no one is pushing this in the school system. Especially not the holy teachers.
I’ve said it before and stand by it: modern public education is child abuse.
And the parents who refuse to fight this are enablers.
Yes I totally agree with you. Get your kids out of the ASD cesspool.
Why are people in jail because of pornography yet the secret committee is accepting the teaching of prornography in Elementary and all schools. The Legislature and Governor Dunleavy should not give one red cent more for Education until the District is accountable as to where the money is going. Time for school choice and it shouldn’t be given to the Diversity’s Equity and Inclusion curriculum for training teachers. One parent stated: Equity without Excellence is Emptiness and in my opinion it is truth.
So disgusting: My children are adults now, but I would home school them for sure now
Talk is cheap Barbara. Heheh!
Going to lecture us again on the differences between pedophilia and sex with underage kids? Maybe you have ideas here of the differences between ‘acceptable’ and ‘unacceptable’ porn for children? After reading some of your earlier comments on these subjects, I shouldn’t be surprised to find you here commenting on this thread.
Well Paul since I’ve asked a few others for their definition of “pornographic literature” I’ll ask you what you think a good definition might be. Go ahead and give us your take Paul. Heheh!
Why I’ll bet you still haven’t wrapped your head around the difference between a pedophile and someone that has sex with underage kids. Keep em coming Paul.
Well Bill, WTH. The difference between a pedophile and someone who has sex with an underage child? That’s where your mind gravitates to? Are you even legally allowed to be around children? Have yet to hear one legitimate argument you’ve made including deflecting the conversation to, “Well we just can’t define what pornography is.” If this doesn’t meet your expectations of pornography,
then I’d hate to see what does. Make one point that makes sense or get help, mental illness progresses rapidly in a small brain.
You can’t define pornography JB yet you know it when you read it, right? The only reason it came up is because Paul (above) brought it up and I was responding to him. Paul never could wrap his brain around the difference and likely you can’t either.
Get yourself a grip on the issue JB or you will wander around in the weeds being outraged about something you will not understand. Keep going with your “expectations of pornography” though as they surely won’t disappoint. Heheh!
I won’t hide behind any legal definition but I will give my personal view on this subject. Any library located within school property should have NO literature which spells out details of sexual activity of any sort. And to go along with that, no literature which shows photos or videos of sexual activity or of humans unclothed to a point not acceptable in general public, i.e., no breasts, butts, or genitals.
And, since you’ll twist this opinion around, the answer to the next question is yes. Even some works of art have no place in, say, an elementary or middle school. That would be a subject for parents to address at a gallery or museum.
Right back at you billy. Hehehe
It uncovers a more fundamental and existential issue. Here we have a bureaucracy, that is dominated by individuals, who believe that they are more qualified than anyone else. They quite erroneously assume that they are no longer required to serve the people, but their own ideology. They create policies, that favor their ability to pursue their agenda unfettered (Purchasing unsuitable books, keeping this committee secret, not informing parents of their child’s “transitioning” because of “privacy concerns”…) The average parent no longer has any recourse. Clearly the ASD board members feel comfortable to silence parents when they come to speak. Parents are left with few choices for their children and no opportunity to influence policy and curriculum at the ASD.
The secrecy of this ‘approval’ group implies that the people serving in this group wish to remain anonymous and that they wish not to make their identity known. Public scrutiny could be challenging to these folks. Mr. Stock picked at this scab and open bleeding is likely. ASD has the deck stacked and has been caught red handed. The last paragraph should and will get people onboard for change. We elect people that encourage this mindset. More money is always the cure!
theFindingApproved Porn committee. FAP committee
Why is ANYONE sending their children to any public school?
And ANY private school that participates in this grooming behaviour.
Sickening
Ask yourself… if a random bridge troll with a fivehead strolled up and started talking sex w/ your kid would you think it’s ok?
How about if he wrote it down first?
Well if the ASD has a secret board we the people need a secret board cops and judge.
Anchorage School Board members officially, routinely expose two minor children to pornography, deliberately violate Alaska’s open-meeting law to do so
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… while Alaska’s Attorney General Treg Taylor, johnny-on-the-spot when it comes to saving pistol braces and designating drug cartels as terorist organizations knows about this but does nothing?
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What’s wrong with this picture?
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To Mr. Boyle, we say thank you for this reporting and ask whether AG Taylor has been requested to convene a grand jury to decide whether Anchorage School Board officials should be indicted for deliberately exposing at least two minor children to pornography during Board members’ official duties.
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Donley doesn’t get a pass. Donley voted with all his colleagues to award ASD contracts over $1M to union-only shops, leading to the reasonable assumption that nothing prevents ASD contracts from being “padded” to exceed the arbitrary $1M threshold. Taxpayers are left wondering whether this is clear and convincing evidence of racketeering on a level no state grand jury may ever be allowed to touch.
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Repeatedly requesting minutes and membership of the Controversial Concerns Committee for one year is pathetically weak. One wonders why it’s weak, since children’s mental and physical well-being is so clearly and deliberately jeopardized by those in positions of authority and trust.
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What, for example, might Donley have accomplished in the same year by writing op-ed pieces for MRAK, testifying to legislative committees, conducting town-hall forums and podcasts, submitting official complaints to law enforcement, meeting with AG Taylor and Governor Dunleavy, demanding state and federal education revenue sharing be stopped until potential racketeering and child-abuse issues are resolved… repeatedly?
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Again to Mr. Boyle, we say thank you, keep the news coming.
I’m impressed by what (maybe who) I see above. Many names here that usually argue back and forth on the various subjects discussed on MRAK. But NOT this subject! Everyone take a look at the comments. No matter how we see ourselves politically we all seek to protect our children. As such we really are human and are not ‘circling the drain’ as some claim.
I congratulate all of you, my fellow debaters!
The ASD should not have a secret anything, forget a committee of any kind.
Last time I checked, the only time something a public school district should be hidden from the public is if it involves contracting, and it is pre-decisional. Unless there is a valid reason for non-disclosure, it MUST be disclosed.
Lock them up and throw away the key! The Alaska Statute AS 11.61.128, “Electronic Distribution of Indecent Material to Minors” is very specific. Cancel them!
Author David Boyle is a true warrior. Dave Donley is a voice in the cloud throttled by the eminent Margo Bellamy and her band of lemmings.
Both Boyle and Donley deserve our respect and thanks for taking on this behemoth.
Please KEEP FIGHTING
A perspective to ponder…
If all of the iPads that the school district doles out contain filters that disallow porn surfing why is it ok to look at illustrations in the library of one boy chowing down on another’s johnson?
You thinking the problem is “one boy” chowing down rather than one girl TB? Or is it the illustrations that are troubling?
I am only familiar w/ the illustration(s) in one of the homosexual conditioning books and my exposure to it was from this forum. My comment pertains exclusively to objective detail previously shared. Based on your comment I infer that this form of writing appeals to you. Avail yourself of the search feature and derive what pleasure you may, Bill. When you’re done consider sending a critique and a thank you note to ASD’s board members.
Boy can you ever twist a comment around TB. You want to beat around the bush about your comment about a form of gay sex you felt the need to describe yet also can fathom that I like such writing just because I’ve called out your asinine post.
Nobody cares a whit about your exposure to these “homosexual conditioning books” but keep on twisting how you only are pertaining “to objective detail previously shared.”
While you evidently get aroused by these gay sex illustrations, I’ve never felt the need to read or look at gay sex porn. Just how I roll TB. You’ve felt the need to search for these gay sex illustrations in the interest of objectivity, only? Heheh!
Have I made an error in judgment here, Yank? Your prior response first spouts some woke gender neutral nonsense about how “one girl” should also be addressed and follows that up w/ a retort about me as an adult being “troubled” by the illustrations.
Your initial comment about girls vs boys is tiring and your passive aggressive retort is an indication that you’re likely gay and that such illustrations bring you joy. That you might be happy with them in a children’s environment highlights a faulty aspect of your psyche but it’s more than likely that some young lady’s dad will help adjust your views next time you walk into the women’s bathroom that his daughter is occupying. Don’t forget to thank your teacher when he’s done.
Well TB, your comment describing “one boy chowing down on another’s johnson” suggests you know little about BJs as nobody uses that terminology, whether gay or straight IMO. And since you know nothing about them it’s not too surprising you might want to seek out such illustrations from any source in a storm. To suggest it’s just your needing “objective detail previously shared” is hilarious however. Keep em comiing TB as your asinine comments are keeping us in stitches.
Robin William’s character said it best when responding to a guy such as yourself with “you’re in more dire need of a blow job than any white man in history.”
And it doesn’t surprise me that you might make such a generous offer, Yank. Trying to cut back though.
Very good question plus we the taxpayer are paying their salaries, and that is money spent on overhead and over staffed administration. Remember it’s for the kids.
The easiest way to make the HeHee troll go away is to ignore it.
And miss out on a chance to show their ignorance? Not a chance. Heheh!
Perhaps I’m understanding something incorrectly, but doesn’t each school have a library (with a librarian)? If so, isn’t there a school budget for acquisition of new titles? Isn’t there a decision-making process for how the money will be spent? Isn’t it possible that parents and caregivers have a voice in book selection based on their budgets? Doesn’t a school have to respond to reasonable requests to not have a book on its shelves, as interested readers might be able to obtain the book elsewhere? Or, to have it in their holdings if it was of special educational value? Even if some entity were to donate the specific book, shouldn’t there be some sort of librarian-related specific body that decides not to accept it, or can suggest it be donated to Goodwill?
School libraries and other libraries often are not flush with funds to provide all books or sometimes not even rudimentary borrowing services. Blanket disapproval deprives exposure to literary content, if that is the book’s merit.
If the individual instructor demands a student read a particular book in fulfillment of requirements for a class, that is problematic as well. If I as a parent finds a copy of a National Geographic magazine objectionable to have on the shelves, I should be able to tell my children the reasoning behind that and if I perceive it will be of irreparable harm to other children, should be able to express my opinion if for instance it contains a recipe for stink bombs. And if no action is taken in pulling from easy accessibility to all children, then the next step is to bring it up a school board meeting, for why its availability is a priority over ‘Landscape and Memory’, which is probably not available in any school library but indubitably meritorious.
I am absolutely positive that book selection is a significant part of the curriculum for library science college majors. If there’s no qualified librarian on duty, then maybe this should be the priority over what’s on the shelves.
As far as I know anyone with a library card within the age requirement can borrow any book in what is available anywhere. If it’s not there, then tough luck. Ask Mrs Oberg at the Chugiak Library where to get it. ZJ is less than an hour away in the old Packard.
When I was in fourth grade I checked out ‘The Wolves of Willoughby Chase’ by someone named Aiken every other week. If that was a problem for other patrons that didn’t have the chance to read it, I’m sure that Mrs Hildeman would have informed me.
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