I’m Kristine Seitz. I am a Bloomington resident, and I am here on behalf of the children currently in the district. They are being exposed to harmful materials that are located within the school libraries, and possibly teachers' classrooms. The material presented tonight is very explicit, and at times front and center on display in the school libraries with no discretion. I have a petition with close to 200 signatures, showing this is an area of concern for the community.
We are asking the school board to create a policy that prohibits all staff from bringing these materials into the schools. This could easily be modeled after the policies you already have in place that ALWAYS prohibits non-school persons from distributing obscene, profane and vulgar content, as stated in District policies 904, 524 and 904.1
This explicit materials also goes against MN statue 617.241 and 609.352 which defines obscene materials, and states distribution of these materials is unlawful; and MN Statue 617.291 states that sexually explicit materials are harmful to minors, and if available to minors under the age of 18, that the availability of the materials be restricted to sources within the schools.
This is not about banning books. These books can be found at public libraries. It is about protecting children in the school setting, and using discretion for what is appropriate. It is no different than choosing an age-appropriate curriculum.
Furthermore, these books do not offer an educational benefit. New policy is needed to preserve the rights of all parents to make decisions as to what is acceptable for their individual child as they are the ones that know their child best and can offer the best guidance.
This area has gone too long without the proper checks in place. So again, we are asking that it be an immediate, top priority of the school board to create policy on a vetting process to be used on all in-coming materials, restricted access put in place where appropriate, and a policy that prohibits staff from distributing explicit material. We are looking for resolution and follow-through and would appreciate on-going communication regarding this topic.
