PRINCE FREDRICK, Md. – At the meeting of the Calvert County Board of Education on Thursday, May 25, 2023 a number of teachers and educators commented on first-year board member Jana Post’s proposed set of major changes to the way in which library materials are selected. These proposed changes were met with scorn by a number of educators in Calvert County.
Post has called for the formation of four committees, as well as a series of possible subcommittees, to vet and approve of suggested and required materials. One suggested committee would be the Family Life and Human Sexuality Committee.
The speakers present for the event labeled Post’s ideas as “bigoted”, “absurd”, “unnecessary”, and “unconstitutional”.
“Books have power because they allow us to experience people’s stories,” said Tim Sinclair, a teacher at Northern High School as well as a parent of two children.
“I spent the last year working with the University of Maryland writing project and The Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture on a project called ‘re-storying’. The idea of this re-storying project is to bring back the perspective and experiences of groups of people whose stories have been stripped away. When we allow dominant narratives to remove the complete story of people from the conversation, we erase the people as well.”
Another teacher and parent, Amanda Pullen-McGrath from Huntingtown High School, also aired her grievances with the proposed change.
“I was interested in the anti-racism policy we developed, I was glad to see progress in the area where I grew up and more acceptance of the LGBTQIA community. Yet the backlash since then has been hateful and overwhelming and we are seeing it in the library now. Yet the backlash since then has been hateful and overwhelming…and for what? So that more hatred can be spread to harm our kids and our families?”
Mrs. Pullen-McGrath is notable in her speech due to the fact that she and her family (especially her children) faced harassment online and in public. In addition, she stated that Post’s revised policy was made with zero collaboration and assistance with actual Calvert Library Staff.
This proposed policy change from Post comes in the wake of efforts by multiple states to ban books deemed “inappropriate” from schools and libraries. These states include Texas, Florida, Arkansas, and Iowa.
“This is an opportunity to have a discussion, for me to understand your point of view and for you to try and understand others” Ms. Post said in the board comments segment of the forum.
“Don’t be angry because I am only speaking for one side and not the other.”
A final decision on this policy will likely not come until July, due to the fact that board member Dawn Balinski will be unable to attend the June meeting.
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Ms Post is not gay nor of color so she can’t understand her old school ways. Vote her out!
Racist much ? Why ya letting a strong White woman shake ya feelings up ?
“Nor of color”lol is she invisible?
What a shocker, Jana post is a book banning Nazi. Never trust any governmental figure that wants to take away our freedom to information. She doesn’t deserve to be in education or our state for that matter. What a rotten hateful person
No she doesn’t “deserve” to be in education, she’s qualified to be in education. You throw the word nazi at everyone who disagrees with you much like, how should I say,..a nazi!!! She is qualified to seek the office she holds and was elected because the majority of Calvert County agrees with her positions on education. The few people who came out to screech and howl (and call her a nazi), were represented in this article. However, the tens of thousands who voted for her to represent their views and interests concerning the education (not the sexualtion) of their children were not.