SEVEN…that’s the number of women who have disclosed to me their story of sexual assault/abuse in the last few weeks. No, I don’t work in the medical or legal field. I don’t work in social services. These are just friends and acquaintances who have shared their stories after reading or talking about the book How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez. This book opens the door to powerful conversations and shines a light on dark places but our school board recently voted to remove it from the curriculum at Tillamook High School.
I am baffled by the decisions being made by the school board and district administration. The process used to remove this book was flawed from the beginning and in every step along the way.
The book was removed from the classroom back in February 2024, but the most confounding part of this story is that no one actually filed a formal complaint asking for the book to be removed! Exactly how and why this book was removed from the classroom in the first place is a mystery I have yet to unravel.
Despite never receiving a formal complaint requesting the removal of the book, the district removed the book from shelves for six months. Then in July, a “review committee” was formed; however members of the committee were appointed in violation of district policy.
In July, I noted 3 significant policy violations. I shared those violations with the district office and every member of the school board prior to the August board meeting, and yet my concerns were disregarded. The board voted to remove the book despite knowing about the many policy violations around its removal. Those policy violations matter and to move forward in direct violation of their own policies is stunning.
Appointing committee members in violation of policy is wrong. It opens the door to bias and abuse of power.
Whether intentional or not, mistakes were made, but that’s no excuse for sweeping them under the rug. We need our leaders to follow policy, and now we need our school board to be brave and correct these past mistakes. I request that the board reverse its decision and bring the book back to the curriculum without delay.
If you support freedom from censorship and students’ rights to access information, please join me at the next Tillamook School Board meeting Monday September 9 at 5:30pm at the district office.
Or email your concerns to the school board directly:
TSD9 Board Members
