Nixa School Board to review multiple books that parents want banned or violate state law

NIXA, Mo. (KY3) - Nixa Public Schools is holding a special board meeting Tuesday evening to review books that parents want banned and some that could be in violation of the new state law.

The board will be reviewing seven different books at 6:30 p.m.

“Our board takes every decision very seriously, and you have seven individual board members that have each read and looked at each one of these materials,” said Zac Rantz with Nixa Public Schools. “Part of it was the reconsideration process, and another one is the state law.”

The following books have been submitted for reconsideration under for their review in light of Mo. Rev. Stat. 573.550.

• “Blankets” by Craig Thompson
• “Handmaid’s Tale: The Graphic Novel” by Margaret Atwood
• “Maus” by Art Spiegelman

The district says the materials have been through library and administrative review, and now are passed to the Nixa School Board for a final decision. Another set of books was submitted through the review committee process and have written appeals to the Nixa School Board for a final decision.

• “Empire of Storms” by Sarah Maas
• “Lucky” by Alice Sebold
• “Something Happened in Our Town” by Marianne Celano & Marietta Collins
• “Unpregnant” by Jenni Hendricks & Ted Caplan

”The board is going to take a look at these four books, and then they will make a decision of whether to retain it or restrict it,” said Rantz.

While many parents are adamant about getting specific books off the shelves because of inappropriate content, there are also local groups who say it’s taking away educational rights and freedom.

“We denounce any restriction or ban on any academic opportunity, intellectual freedom, such as a book,” said Elizabeth Dudash-Buskirk with U-Turn in Education. “We’re going to continue to advocate for intellectual freedom to support our teachers to support our educators and to support our librarians throughout the county.”

Both sides are planning on speaking and making their point clear at Tuesday night’s meeting.

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