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| School board retains "Unpregnant" | |
By Gretchen Garrity
The issue of inappropriate, sexually explicit and obscene books continues to be at the forefront of local school boards in Missouri. At the July 13, 2023 regular school board meeting in Nixa, the board conducted a re-vote for the book Unpregnant, since it had not received a majority vote of “Remove” at the June 20, 2023 meeting.
The June vote resulted in a split: 3 for removal, 2 for restriction, and 2 for retention. Board rules dictate a clear majority must prevail. However, the July re-vote was more than surprising. Because school board member Linda Daughtery was out of town and unable to attend the regular school board meeting on July 13, 2023, the re-vote to determine a board majority vote for the book consisted of six members voting on the three options.
If Daughtery had been present, the vote would have resulted in Unpregnant being removed from the library by a majority vote of four to three. Jason Massengale changed his vote to “Remove” at the July 13 meeting.
But because of the missing board member and multiple voting options, a majority of the board was again not achieved. The stated goal of having a “Vote to Determine Board Majority” was not served, and the school board ultimately fell back on a review committee’s recommendation, which was to retain the book without restriction.
This happened despite a planned board retreat meeting in June to study the process of reviewing books.
Part of the issue for the school board is the manner of having three options for each book:
To Retain without Restrictions
To Retain with Parental Permission
To Remove
This had a direct result of splitting the vote both times in such a way that a majority vote of 4/7 could not be attained, even though with a vote of 3-2-2 or 3-2-1 as happened at the July 13 meeting, there were more votes to remove or restrict rather than retain. This will be a problem going forward, and may result in school board-appointed committees determining book decisions, rather than elected board members.
The review committee that voted to recommend Unpregnant be retained without restriction includes at least three school district employees: Cheryl Huson, Chelsea Shoemake, Wendee Corya, and a community member, Ashley Johnson. Their vote was 4-0, with one member of the five-member committee not present.
School board president, Joshua Roberts, indicated in a previous news article, that review teams have been ridiculed publicly for their recommendations. Taxpayers, however, have a legal right to know who is making the decisions that affect public school students.
The committee’s report stated in part, “This book in no way promotes or advocates for abortion. The novel manages to take a highly stigmatized topic and bring it into the light, and in the process create a story that is both timely and meaningful. We recommend it be retained without restriction based on its fulfillment of library material selection criteria.”
The report further states the book Unpregnant meets the “Objectives for the Selection of Library Materials” of enriching and supporting the curriculum, as well as meeting ethical standards.
Unpregnant, published by Harper Collins, is a book that came about as a way to make the subject of abortion more comfortable for young people. A review of the book describes it as, “Seventeen-year-old Veronica Clarke never thought she’d want to fail a test—that is, until she finds herself staring at a piece of plastic with two solid pink lines. With a college-bound future now disappearing before her eyes, Veronica considers a decision she never imagined she’d have to make: an abortion. There’s just one catch—the closest place to get one is over nine hundred miles away. With conservative parents, a less-than-optimal boyfriend, and no car, Veronica turns to the only person who won’t judge her: Bailey Butler, a legendary misfit at Jefferson High—and Veronica’s ex-best friend.What could go wrong? Not much, apart from three days of stolen cars, crazed ex-boyfriends, aliens, ferret napping, and the betrayal of a broken friendship that can’t be outrun. Under the starlit skies of the Southwest, Veronica and Bailey discover that sometimes the most important choice is who your friends are.”
In a 2020 interview, Unpregnant author Jennie Hendriks said, “Much of the time when abortion has been presented in the media, it’s been focused on the choice—a weighty exploration of whether the person wants to become a parent. And always depicting the decision to have an abortion as fraught and dramatic can lead to feelings of shame. We wanted to write a story where our main character knew exactly what she wanted to do from the very beginning, her only obstacle was how to get there. As writers we never wanted to make light of the decision to get an abortion, but we were more comfortable poking fun at how difficult it is to actually get one...If you are underage, 37 states require parental involvement in the decision to have an abortion. And more laws restricting access are being written seemingly every day. So, to highlight the absurdity of this, we thought, why not write an absurd, boisterous, slightly insane road trip story?”
Nixa parent, Carissa Corson, who submitted a removal request for Unpregnant, spoke about the decision to retain the book without restrictions, “Offering books like "Unpregnant" rob parents of having very important and timely conversations that only parents know when their child is mature enough to have! I believe the board agrees with me and that’s why 5 out of 7 board members either voted to remove or place a parental restriction on this book. Parents, students, taxpayers and our community are feeling that it is unjust to have this book on the shelves of Nixa High School.”
Additional information below.
Video of school board vote on July 13
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