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JEFFREY S. SOLOCHEKThe absence of Judy Blume's novel from school libraries violates the district's policy on challenges of instructional material.
SPRING HILL - Ever since a family questioned whether it should be in elementary school libraries, the Judy Blume novel Deenie has become inaccessible to Hernando County students.
That's despite district policy, which states any challenged instructional material under consideration "would remain available and in use unless otherwise directed by the superintendent or his designee."
Elaine Wooten, who heads the challenged materials review committee, claimed all available copies on Oct. 10. Committee members needed to read the book before they could decide its fate, she said in e-mails to district media specialists.
But the panel never had a full slate of participants, curriculum director Ken Pritz said, and it has not yet met. The Times challenged the district's plans to have the review conducted privately, and Circuit Judge Jack Springstead granted a temporary injunction against the meeting unless it was publicly advertised and residents were allowed to attend.
Earlier this month, the School Board settled the case, agreeing to open the session.
All the while, three school media specialists confirmed, the book remained checked out.
"I have never seen that book again since I sent that book to a member of the committee," said Margaret Cushing of Spring Hill Elementary, where the debate began. "I haven't seen it and I haven't heard a word . . . That is one effective way of censoring, just take all the copies."
The turn of events bothered at least one School Board member.
"The only reason for pulling it right away was if the committee was going to review it right away," board member Gail David said. "One parent has, for all practical purposes, decided the book won't be on the shelves."
Such a result wasn't even the parent's intent.
Greg Trammel, who along with his wife questioned the novel because it spoke about masturbation, said he viewed the matter simply - they felt the book was inappropriate for their fourth-grade daughter, and they wanted better controls over the books that children take from the school library.
"We would have been very satisfied from the beginning if the book had a warning attached to it," Trammel said.
Spring Hill Elementary principal John DiRienzo recommended a similar action after a campus-level committee considered the book. He proposed in a memo dated Oct. 28 that Deenie be placed behind the librarian's desk, where teachers and parents could request it, but students could not.
But once the complaint got to the district level, it took on a life of its own.
"If (the district) had handled this with any sort of common sense, we wouldn't be where we are today," Trammel said.
Book challenges often become controversial, though, and school districts sometimes effectively ban a book before completing a review, said Svetlana Mintcheva, a director at the National Coalition Against Censorship in New York City. She compared such a move to condemning and punishing an accused criminal before conducting a trial.
"The book should remain on the shelves," Mintcheva said. "The district is violating its own policy. That certainly is a problem. They could extend the process indefinitely."
School Board chairwoman Sandra Nicholson disagreed.
"I don't have a problem with (removing the book) until the determination is made," Nicholson said. "Better safe than sorry."
The committee had to read the story, anyway, she added, so it made sense to use the copies ready owned by the district.
In hindsight, it might have been better to put the books back into the schools once it became clear that the committee review would not take place for more than three months, board member Robert Wiggins said.
"Probably, when they took it out, they didn't know it would take this long," Wiggins said, adding that the process likely would be complete by now if the Times had not challenged it in court. "If the review is not going to take place some time this week, we should put it back on the shelf until we get this review in place."
Schools begin a two-week vacation this afternoon. Pritz said committee selection was under way but not complete. He expected no action until after schools reopen in January.
- Jeffrey S. Solochek can be reached at 352 754-6115 or solochek@sptimes.com