Earlier this year, a Wrightsboro Elementary parent following the district's procedure for removing curriculum items challenged the book Blended. Though not being taught, the book was present in individual classroom libraries, which are curated by teachers.
The parent objected to some of the material as being too mature for young readers – and also to what they considered the inappropriate injection of racial themes into the book, including a scene where the main character is accidentally shot during a police stop. The parent said they felt that part of the story could negatively impact students’ relationships with school resources officers.
After an initial review by a school-level committee rejected the request to remove the book, the parent appealed to a district-level committee, which voted to take no action – essentially meaning the book could stay where it was.
While uncommon, district superintendents are allowed to review and modify decisions of the district-level committee. In this case, Dr. Christopher Barnes decided to alter the decision, removing the book from third-grade classrooms, but allowing it in the library for fourth and fifth-graders who had parental permission. The book remains unrestricted in middle and high schools (which was outside the purview of the parent’s challenge).
The situation is complicated by the fact that the parent is Josie Barnhart, the Republican vice-chair of the New Hanover County school board. WHQR’s initial reporting on the challenge to Blended noted that she’d been asked if she was the parent, based on the suggestion of multiple sources; Barnhart gave a non-answer. The following week, she acknowledged she had filed the challenge, but objected strongly to having her identity “leaked” to the press.
District MTAC committee decision
The district committee upheld the decision of the Wrightsboro Elementary committee to leave Blended in school libraries without restrictions. Members of this district Media Technology Advisory Committee (MTAC) included Assistant Superintendent of Technology and Learning Dawn Brinson, Lead Librarian Mary Alice Hudson, Curriculum Specialist Maureen Hill, Director of Curriculum and Instruction Lo DeWalt, Elementary Principal of the Year Brent Hall, Supervisor of Elementary School Counseling Megan Demolina, Elementary Principal Dr. Stephanie Willis, Elementary Teacher of the Year Sydney Kong, and parent Bernice Johnson.
Since its purchase, the committee reported Blended has been circulated in NHCS libraries 535 times, with 60 different copies in elementary, middle, and high schools. Aside from Barnhart, no parent has challenged to the book in the past.
[Note: You can view the district's and Wrightsboro's reports at the end of this article.]
The committee determined that the book fits some of the components of NCDPI’s ‘Portrait of a Graduate’, in which students should gain empathy and personal responsibility skills.
They also found that the experiences in Blended are “unfortunately relevant and present in [NHC] and do impact elementary-age students. The committee also discussed real incidents of non-police gun violence and NHCS aged students who have been shot.”
Some committee members also shared their personal experiences related to “children in their lives about procedures to follow when pulled over by police. The committee concluded that the book accurately portrays how a child would experience the events in chapters 67-69 [where the police stop and shooting take place].”
The members said they spoke highly of school resource officers at each school and said this book would not undermine their work, as Barnhart claimed in her original complaint. She had asked for an SRO to be present for the district MTAC committee—they were invited but did not ultimately participate in the district’s deliberations.
The committee “applauded” Barnhart for “being actively involved in the child’s reading and for exercising [her] parental right to determine this was not a good fit for [her] child. While [we] understand and respect the parent’s belief that this book is inappropriate for their child, [we] do not believe it is inappropriate for all children.”
They also said they have “professional trust in NHCS educators to select books for classroom and school libraries.” Barnhart had called into question her student’s educators, stating that she doesn’t like “having to second guess people who I believe are invested in the wellbeing of my kid.”
The committee also addressed Barnhart’s concern that this book is related to diversity, equity, and inclusion and would run afoul of the Trump administration’s executive order stopping these efforts. The committee said the procedure they underwent “does not discriminate against students or parents based on any demographic data.”
Superintendent Dr. Christopher Barnes explains his decision
Barnes said his decision to overrule the two committees was based on the idea that kids can be “academically ready for some content, but maybe not developmentally ready for the seriousness of the themes in that book.”
He also wanted to follow recent legislation of the General Assembly, like the Parents Bill of Rights and the potential passage of HB636, which would allow the community and parents to remove books from public schools.
He said this was a compromise, where the book is still available, and the process he proposes would ensure elementary parents know what their children are reading. Included in his decision was parental permission to check out Blended for fourth and fifth graders, which he doesn’t see as a hurdle to reading the book. Students in third grade and below cannot check it out, but he added that these families would have access at the county public library.
For middle and high school students, they can freely check out the book.
“Quite frankly, it solves both sides of the concern that it needs to be available for parents who think their kid is ready for that, but at the same time, it needs to be in a place that I feel is leveled,” he said.
In response to public claims that he was pressured into this decision, he said he was not. “I know that’s been out there a lot, and to be fair, it was a strange dynamic, but I do think this was a decision that fits the needs of all groups.”
He wanted the community to understand policy 2010, adopted in 2020, surrounding superintendent and board relations. This stipulates that he should “communicate openly with the board any concerns about the board's proposed course of action. Once the board makes a decision, the superintendent shall not publicly express opposition. The superintendent shall support board policy and actions before the school system, employees, and the public.”
He added that he understands the concerns from the committee that some kids do experience violence at a young age, but that it’s best dealt with by a counselor or social worker, not from a book.
Accusations of violating FERPA and Barnhart’s privacy
When a parent communicates with the school district about matters relating to their child’s education, those emails (or texts or other records) are almost always protected as an education record by FERPA, the federal law that protects student privacy.
It’s less clear whether that applies to things like book challenges – especially those that would apply to an entire school, or the whole district – where the communication is less about a specific child’s education and more about a policy decision by the district.
NHCS’s attorneys interpret FERPA to say that if a parent has a child in the school system, then their complaint would be confidential, even if it were asking for a district-wide restriction or ban.
The interpretation of the Federal Education Record Privacy Act (FERPA) differs across school districts in the state, and apparently even within NHCS.
In 2023, NHCS did not redact the parent’s name from records related to the challenge to and banning of Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You from the curriculum. Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools recently released the parent's name for a book challenge for Julian is a Mermaid, but redacted the student’s name.
When WHQR asked why they made this interpretation, a CMS district spokesperson wrote, "In accordance with the NC Public Records Act, the student’s information was redacted in response to a public records request."
The United States Department of Education and the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction declined to weigh in on NHCS’s decision. They referred the public to what is written in FERPA and the section of the law that outlines what constitutes personally identifiable information (PII).
When WHQR asked Barnes to clarify parental privacy protections regarding district curriculum materials, he responded, “That's something we're looking at as a process as well. But I will direct that back to the attorney, because that's not my expertise either.”
Barnhart has alleged that either staff or those on the book committees violated FERPA, by leaking her name to the press.
What’s next
The District MTAC Committee and Barnhart have 15 days from May 12 to appeal Barnes’ decision.
When questioned whether his employees would feel comfortable challenging his ruling, he said they’ve disagreed with him before. Still, he acknowledged the power dynamics between him and his staff - and between him and one of his bosses, Barnhart.
Barnes said his main job is to “maintain the integrity of the educational environment. It is a difficult time because people are very polarized, and a lot of the time, the message gets lost in the noise. And I'm always going to go back to what is the cleanest, safest, and most structured educational environment. And a lot of times, I think sometimes we are so passionate about what we believe, I think sometimes we negatively affect children when we do that.”
WHQR and Barnes agreed: the discussion on Blended wouldn't warrant a public conversation if it were solely a decision between the family and the school and didn’t impact other parents and other students.
Blended Combine PDF by Ben Schachtman on Scribd
