Tensions were high at the Washoe County School Board of Trustees meeting on Tuesday after dozens of community members attended asking for “pornographic” books to be banned from district libraries.
The surge of commenters attending the school board meeting was spurred by an anti-LGBTQ+ and self-proclaimed “book banning pastor” who has partnered with right-wing group Turning Point USA to tour the country fighting against the “wokest school boards,” as well as a professional book-banner out of California. The vast majority of those advocating for book banning and decrying the acceptance of LGBTQ+ students were older adults — many of whom also provide far-right comments at other local government meetings — while most parents of district students spoke against book banning.
Trustee Adam Mayberry, who led the meeting in board President Beth Smith’s absence, went on at some length before opening public comment about the board’s rules. Commenters are not allowed to use profanity, vulgarity or personal attacks. Mayberry said if the public insisted on either of those, they’d receive one warning, and then the board would take a recess and the speaker would be removed.
Despite this, the very first commenter, North Carolina-based “biblical justice” activist Pastor John K. Amanchukwu, caused the board to recess after he continued reading from a passage of Bret Easton Ellis’s “American Psycho.” Amanchukwu, flanked by a cameraman recording his speech, was given one warning to stop but continued to read, spurring the board into recess.
The extent of the coordination for the advocacy effort is unknown; however, one commenter, Cliff Nellis, stated at the beginning of his comment, “I’ve been given a book to read from,” before delivering a rant against LGBTQ+ individuals. Following this, he began reading a passage from Elana Arnold’s “Damsel.”
Several commenters appeared to have been provided books for public comment, as they brought them up to the podium but did not read from them. One commenter carried the book “Traffick” by Ellen Hopkins but did not read from it, instead declaring, “I have a right by God to protect my grandchild.” She asked for the board to stand up against books that, she said, might convince children that being sexually assaulted is okay.
Another commenter, Shirie Winters, brought “The Lovely Bones” by Alice Sebold and incorrectly described it as a book about “a little girl being raped by her teacher,” adding, “These books, I wouldn’t even want to read them.”
Other books mentioned during public comment were “Tricks” by Ellen Hopkins, “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison and “Looking for Alaska” by John Green.
“If you want to protect children from porn, take their phones away — not their library books.”
“Even poems are dirty, rotten,” Sandee Tibbitt said before reading from a collection of poems from Allen Ginsberg. She suggested that students who wanted to read such materials could check them out from the county’s public libraries. However, many of those at the meeting who advocated for removing books from school libraries have also pushed for removals in public libraries.
Nikki Buhrmann, a parent of a WCSD student and school librarian, said the recent primary election results show that local voters are interested in neutral, fair-minded candidates and that the opinions shared by the “loud” minority are not representative of the community.
“The things being said about my profession are vile,” Buhrmann said. “I can assure you the only thing I’m grooming is my hair. Restricting access to books is a form of banning. Parents have every right to determine what is appropriate for their children to read, and we have processes in place to ensure their values and requests are met and followed. We do not need folks out of the area choosing books for every child to read.”
Buhrmann said those audience members should look toward the internet rather than libraries as a source of inappropriate content.
“More and more students are spending a heck of a lot more time scrolling and reading on their phones, not books in libraries,” Buhrmann said. “If you want to protect children from porn, take their phones away — not their library books.”
Several commenters said the issues facing children are not the contents of books but rather bullying, suicide and literacy.
Only 41% of elementary school students, 42% of middle school students and 52% of high school students have test scores reflecting proficiency in reading within the district.
Others called the far-right effort “manufactured outrage” from out-of-state sent to “create a scene” with “thinly-veiled attacks” on the LGBTQ+ community. Silver State Equality volunteer Jessica Munger said the opinions of the far-right commenters were irrelevant.
“Nevada is a live and let live state,” Munger said. “Washoe County School District is directly responsible for every student, every face, every name until graduation. You are not accountable to the extremists, who most of which don’t have students in Washoe County School District … You are, however, responsible for the scholars in our school district to support them to create a safe learning environment in our district where all students can thrive.”
Many commenters against banning books said books depicting young people who are questioning their sexuality, or who are navigating discrimination, can save lives by making students struggling with their own challenges not feel so alone.
One commenter, Victoria Myer, took issue with the notion, stating: “These graphic depictions of sex are necessary for the literal survival of children? If they don’t hear butt-screwing, they’re going to kill themselves? … This is in the classrooms being read!”
Nearly all the public commenters who identified themselves as parents of current WCSD students were against book banning, including all but one written public comment sent to the board.
However, that did not stop many from speaking up: “We are of a certain age and maybe don’t have kids in the school system, but it’s a community, and guess what, when we have kids that are harmed, that are mentally raped, that are doctrinated [sic], then it’s all of our problem,” commenter Layne Linebaugh said. She said that reading books led her to become a promiscuous drug abuser.
One parent in favor of banning books, Jenny Clark, asked why the district didn’t allow alcohol or “rooms for kids to have sex” since access to these library books is causing students to be “walking around being sexually aroused.”
Debi Stears, the collection development manager of the Washoe County Library System and a former school district librarian, applauded the district for advocating for parents’ rights. She added that district policy ensures that parents have the right to restrict what their children read.
“Parents already have the ability to choose which materials they will or will not allow their children to read,” Stears said.
She added that books give young readers a safe place to grapple with tough topics and develop the skills they need to navigate the world.
In other items:
Trustees approved recognizing SPAW, the School Psychologist Association of Washoe.
School psychologists voted to form SPAW and asked the district to recognize them as an employee organization after they chose to withdraw from the Association of Professional-Technical Administrators (APTA) in January 2024.
School Psychologist Scott Barclay led the presentation and said the recognition will allow them to begin negotiations: “Thank you for considering us. As you are acutely aware, we are the remaining employees of the WCSD who have not received a COLA increase. This step will allow us to begin negotiations.”
Trustees unanimously approved the recognition.
