8/13/2019 KRRP House of the Spirits

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8/13/2019 KRRP House of the Spirits

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Joan BertinExecutive DirectorNational Coalition Against Censorship

Charles BrownsteinExecutive DirectorComic Book Legal Defense Fund

Kent WilliamsonExecutive DirectorNational Council of Teachers of English

Larry SiemsDirector, Freedom to Write and International ProgramsPEN American Center

Barbara JonesDirector, Office for Intellectual FreedomAmerican Library Association

Chris FinanPresidentAmerican Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression

Judy PlattDirector, Free Expression AdvocacyAssociation of American Publishers

Alexandra OwensExecutive DirectorAmerican Society of Journalists and Authors

Lin OliverExecutive DirectorSociety of Childrens Book Writers & Illustrators

a curriculum for each student whose parents had genuine moral disagreements with the schools choice of subject matter.

Brown v. Hot, Sexy and Safer Productions, Inc., 68 F.3d 525, 534 (1st Cir. 1995), cert. denied, 516 U.S. 1159 (1996). See

also Swanson v. Guthrie Indep. School Dist.,135 F.3d 694, 699 (10th Cir. 1998);Littlefeld v. Forney Indep. School, 268

F.3d 275, 291 (5th Cir. 2001)

The House of the Spiritswas evaluated by a school committee of educators and administrators which found that the book

was perfectly suitable for 10thgrade classrooms. This meeting was governed by the procedure dened in Section V. B. of

Board policy 4.02.40 - Selection of Educational Media Resources which notes, When items are challenged, the principles

of the right to read and free access of information shall be upheld by the Board of Education. While parents are free to

request an alternative assignment for their children, they have no right to impose their views on others or to demand thatotherwise educationally worthy materials be removed, merely because they consider them objectionable, offensive, or

inappropriate. To go further and remove the book violates the right to read and to the free access of information of other

students and parents. Whats more, the practical effect of acceding to any parents request to censor materials will be to

invite more challenges, and to leave school ofcials vulnerable to multiple, possibly conicting demands.

Literature helps prepare students for the future by providing opportunities to explore issues they may encounter in life.

The freedom to read, inquire, question and think for ourselves is foundational to a quality education. We urge you to

uphold the highest educational standards for your students, and to respect both the decisions of your professional staff

and the intellectual freedom of your college-bound students and retain use of The House of the Spiritsin Watauga High

School.

Sincerely,