Southlake administrator tells teachers that books about the Holocaust need opposing views
A Southlake Carroll school district administrator told teachers that if they had books about the Holocaust in their classrooms then they needed to provide books with opposing perspectives, according to a report from NBC News.
A staff member secretly recorded a training session during which the comments were made and shared the audio with NBC News, the network said in a report Thursday.
Gina Petty, Carroll’s executive director of curriculum and instruction, told those gathered for the training on Friday, “Just try to remember the concepts of [House Bill] 3979.”
The law requires teachers to present different perspectives when discussing controversial and widely debated issues.
The school district did not respond to an email from the Star-Telegram seeking comment but said in a statement to NBC that it is trying to help teachers comply with the law, which takes effect in December.
“Our district recognizes that all Texas teachers are in a precarious position with the latest legal requirements,” a spokesperson wrote.
Stephanie Williams, a former teacher who is running for the Place 7 school board seat in a Nov. 2 special election, called the district’s statement on the Holocaust “alarming.”
“I am concerned that we are misinterpreting the law and that we’re reading it too narrowly and not allowing teachers who are trained educators to use their judgment.”
The training was held during the same week that the school board voted to request that a fourth-grade teacher, Rickie Farah from Johnson Elementary School, have a reprimand in her personnel file after a parent complained about an anti-racist book in her classroom even though administrators did not find the teacher was at fault.
The book in question is called “This Book is Anti-Racist: 20 Lessons on How to Wake Up, Take Action and Do the Work.”
It has been on the New York Times bestseller list.
The book focuses on stories of people who have been oppressed, such as Native Americans, as well as stories of hope, including one about a former slave, Toussaint Louverture, who led a rebellion for Haiti’s independence.
The Star-Telegram also reached out to the parent who filed the complaint but did not get a response.
However, the parent, Sarah Muns, told The Texan that she filed the grievance 10 months ago after her daughter brought a book home from her class library that she felt was inappropriate for her daughter’s age and grade level.
After Muns discussed her concerns about the book with the principal, she described how her daughter was taken out of class, reprimanded and told that she could not take a book home without the teacher’s permission.