Queering the MLA: Emily Drabinski is Keynote Speaker at Upcoming Conference

 

 By Gretchen Garrity

Just as citizens are finding out their local school districts are run in a top-down manner, so public libraries are also the victims of pressure from state and even national organizations like the American Library Association and its chapter, the Missouri Library Association.

Currently in the Christian County Library

 These organizations, many of which receive taxpayer funding, are pushing agendas whose aim is to  indoctrinate children into sexual and political agendas that are often contrary to parents' and the community's values. Emily Drabinski, the current president of the ALA, has spoken about an encounter with a library book at age 14, in which two of the characters engaged in "fantastic queer sex." She says, "...my body told me I was probably whatever that was!"

Drabinski is slated to be the keynote speaker at the Missouri Library Association's annual conference in October.

You can read about her introduction to queer sex and more in this report from the American Accountability Foundation. 

The Missouri Library Association put out a statement in February regarding Missouri Code of Regulations 15 § 30-200.015, "The Missouri Library Association continues to oppose 15 CSR 30-200.015 Library Certification Requirement for the Protection of Minors and now opposes the HB 1159 filed in the House of Representatives on 2/15/2023. While the final version of the Secretary of State’s proposed rule reduces potential for frivolous challenges to library collections from any individual, it remains vague and continues to engender strife between the library and its community. The newly filed HB1159, however, makes no such distinction on who may challenge the library's collection. It goes beyond the rule to institute punitive damages against libraries and librarians for merely doing the work of the library, providing access to information resources."

The MLA asserts, "Of course, providing minors with obscene materials is already both illegal and against library ethics and standards, so the rule seems to be based on personal interpretations of what materials, displays, and programs are ‘age appropriate." 

However, they do not explicitly deny that such materials are present in the children's sections of Missouri libraries. 

Books like Gender Queer and All Boys Aren't Blue are currently in the Christian County Library and available to minors in the teen section, or as the library titles it, the "Young Adult" section, which is geared toward ages 12-17.

From Gender Queer

 

And while this Federalist article says the State of Missouri has cut ties with the ALA, what has publicly occurred is that Secretary of State John R. Ashcroft sent a letter withholding any future funding of the ALA. Ashcroft stated, "Therefore, I have instructed my staff to discontinue any future financial payments to the American Library Association. My hope is that you reconsider this blatantly political stance, abide by your own principles, and protect the right of Missourians." Ashcroft is specifically referring to the kerfuffle that happened when it was found the ALA was flirting with denying Kirk Cameron's Brave Books events meeting spaces in public libraries. 

Ashcroft said, "The American Library Association Library Bill of Rights states in Article VI, "Libraries which make exhibit spaces and meeting rooms available to the public they serve should make such facilities available on an equitable basis, regardless of the beliefs or affirmations of individuals or groups requesting their use."

May this be similar to when Missouri lawmakers threatened to withhold funding from public libraries in March of 2023, but by April 2023 the Missouri Senate had restored that funding?

Here are the April meeting minutes of the Secretary’s Council on Library Development, “Secretary of State Office Update; Trish Vincent: Vincent states that the state aid budget the House cut has been restored by the Senate. Vincent believes this money should stay.” Who is Trish Vincent? She is the Executive Deputy Secretary of State/Chief of Staff for Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft.

From the ALA's website

 

Has there been a formal withdrawal from membership with the ALA, or just a withdrawal of support? Even the headline of a July press release from the Secretary of State mentions the word "admonishes" but not an actual divorce.

To illustrate how this works, ALA President Emily Drabinski is the keynote speaker at the upcoming October 2023 MLA state conference. Is the MLA continuing their relationship with the ALA until next year's membership funds are due? Will the MLA use private funds to continue their membership with the ALA?  Since it is a chapter of the ALA, has the secretary of state also withdrawn support from the MLA?

Drabinski the keynote speaker at the MLA Conference

 

Noticeably missing from Sec. Ashcroft's letter was any mention of the Missouri Library Association (a chapter of the ALA), and the Missouri State Librarian's ties with it. Robin Westphal is the state librarian, and here she is quoted in a January 2023 article from American Libraries Magazine: "As a state librarian, Westphal connects the 160 libraries that are part of the Missouri Library Association (MLA) with needed resources. Most MLA members are rural libraries, she said, and they are seeking to “evolve and adapt” services provided to their communities. 'Sometimes the best stories come from small towns,' Westphal said."

Here is a screenshot from Westphal's appearance at the MLA's "Library Advocacy Day":

Westphal speaking at the MLA in February 2023

And here is Sec. Ashcroft speaking with the MLA in February:

How is the MLA not accountable for its current membership in the ALA? The connections are clear as seen in the MLA handbook and its Intellectual Freedom page. 

As long as our taxpayer-funded libraries continue to walk hand-in-hand with organizations like the MLA, the indoctrination of children into sexualized and politicized agendas will continue. Local public libraries who retain membership in these organizations will continue to be pressured to implement policies and agendas that are not in consonance with the values of their communities.

Again, ALA President Emily Drabinski is the keynote speaker at this year's MLA annual conference. Ponder that.

And just in case you think of the MLA as library professionals fighting valiantly for free speech, here is a short video clip from a post the MLA featured on their Facebook page, detailing a fundraiser for the MLA by Rude Revue's Booklover's Burleque: Kansas City Edition. 

MLA representative, Brian McCann detailed the August 26 show, explaining that the adult performance was all in good fun to raise funds for a beleaguered MLA trying to stop censorship. There's lots more at Rude Revue's Facebook page about the August 26 show, including another video clip with McCann.

Protecting vulnerable children and youth from sexually explicit books does not mean censoring adult entertainment--however vulgar; but the MLA is apparently fine with making that false connection.

2024

 

Your Vote Matters

 

By Gretchen Garrity

At the May 30, 2023 Ozark School Board meeting, a small but significant event occurred that illustrates the importance of electing the right people to serve on the board.

Although the sound and video quality is poor, the meeting can be seen below, and the issue begins at around the 38-minute mark, when the Missouri School Boards Association’s (MSBA)-recommended policy changes were next on the agenda.

According to the time-stamp notes on the recorded video, “Supt presents package of revised policies from the MSBA, explains that District staff reviews those policies then makes recommendation to board to approve them with suggestions...”

Per school board policy, agenda packets should be available four days in advance of the monthly meeting, but the packet was not available until late on the Friday before Memorial Day, a three-day weekend/holiday. This meant the board would need to look over their information packets during the holiday weekend in order to be ready for the Tuesday meeting start at 4 p.m.

Consequently, a small but important recommendation was nearly rubber-stamped by the school board. It involved what looked like minor changes in policy text, but these and other similar changes were sprinkled throughout several of the over twenty documents the school board needed to review.

The changes for policies included replacing pronouns like “he/she” to “they” or “their.” In one striking example of bending over backwards to exclude pronouns that indicate “he” or “she” was this below. The green text is the new change. The text to be replaced is in red with a strike through. Click on the image for better clarity.

 The first nine words of the above sentence includes the word “student” three times. The awkwardness of the sentence was apparently worth being able to exclude the pronouns “he” or “she.” Another example:

 A board member pointed out these were grammatically incorrect within the context of the policies. What may have accounted for the change? Board members discussed that it might be to save space or for a more nefarious reason. At any rate, Board Member Christina Tonsing was the only member who had noticed the revisions. To the board’s credit, they voted 7-0 to leave the original language in the policy handbook, which stopped gender pronoun language from being inserted.

To recap:

1) Board members were given access to the board packet late on a Friday of a three-day holiday weekend.

2) Administrative staff previously reviewed the packets before sharing with board members, and recommended that the MSBA changes be adopted into the Ozark School District policy handbook “with suggestions.”

    a) Either the staff members did not review the packets,

    b) The packets were reviewed and approved because administrative staff approved of all the changes, 

     c) Administrative staff did not notice the changes as problematic, or glossed over them.

3) One board member noticed the changes that smacked of a creeping gender ideology being inserted into the policy handbook, and mentioned it at the meeting.

4) The school board did the right thing when the issue was addressed.

Several things stand out:

1) Why is the Missouri School Boards Association sending packets to the administrative staff to review ahead of the meeting instead of to the Ozark School Board?

2) If the MSBA is sending recommended policy changes to the school board, how and why is the administrative staff getting access and reviewing them before the board?

3) How often has the school board simply taken the recommendations of the MSBA and the administrative staff as adequate and consequently rubber-stamped policy changes that are under their local purview?

One alert school board member was able to avert an insertion of, at best, poor grammar into the policy handbook. At worst, it was an attempt to begin inserting gender ideology into official documents.

Elections matter.

There are two seats on the Ozark School Board that are coming open in 2024. The deadline to file as a candidate is December of this year.

Library Reconsideration Process

 

The kind of agenda found in our libraries

                                                

By Gretchen Garrity

 The Christian County Library has recently updated their Censorship Policy, so-called, which is the process by which patrons can challenge sexually explicit, pornographic, and other types of materials that do not belong in the children's and teen sections of the library.

While state and federal laws are clear that obscene materials are to be kept from children, public libraries have been following the American Library Association's lead by continuing to place inappropriate materials within reach of children. As noted in a previous article, publishers and activist librarians are flooding the libraries with books and materials that push gender ideology (among other political agendas) even to very small children.

A Sunshine law request to the Christian County Library that asked how many book challenges had been successful from January 2020 to June 2023 brought back one result. The adult version of the Brick Bible, written by an atheist transgender individual, and illustrated by dioramas made from Lego bricks, was relocated to the adult section of the library.

Good on the library!

However, several recent reconsideration requests have been ignored, at least up until 2 p.m. today. One library patron submitted several challenges in June and July, just as the reconsideration form was being updated along with the challenge policy.

 

Previously, the policy noted that a written response from the executive director would be sent within four-to-six weeks from when the challenge was received. That policy was stated on the library's website policy manual last night until today, when the sentence, "A written response from the Executive Director or designated alternate will be sent within four to six weeks" was changed to read, "...a Request for Reconsideration form may be submitted and the Executive Director will respond."

 

To date, it is nearly nine weeks and no response to several challenges. 

 

While the policy was updated in June 2023, it still included the time frame response of the Executive Director. Now that it has gone missing, when are library patrons to expect a response? And why haven't challenge decisions been publicly posted on the website--at least anywhere noted and accessible?

 

A new state rule requires challenge results be posted publicly:

 

 

"(F) The library has or will adopt a written, publicly accessible
library materials challenge policy by which any parent or
guardian of a minor within the library district may dispute or
challenge the library’s age-appropriate designation affixed to
any presentation, event, material, or display in the library, and
the results of any such dispute or challenge shall be disclosed
to the public and published on the library’s website." 

 

 While a new reconsideration form has been added to the website, it would seem fair to grandfather in the older forms that were already out in the community. The new form states, "Please note that incomplete forms will not be processed." Additionally, the new form asks, "Are you the parent or guardian of a minor child (under the age of 18) living within Christian County?" Could this question suppress both parents and those without children from challenging inappropriate materials? Or would it have bearing on how the book challenge is handled by library staff?

The Christian County Library is taxpayer funded and has an annual budget of over $3 million. The library purchased a building next door to the Nixa branch for $2.4 million and will be seeking taxpayer funding for renovating the new building for staff and administration. Currently there are 60 employees of the library. Surely, the staff can respond in a timely and thoughtful manner to book challenges.

 

 

Ozark Schools Support Team presents alternatives

 

 

Photo: Christian County Trumpet

From the Christian County Trumpet:

OSST wants Ozark R-VI to MSBA now, become independent

 

Town Halls to Address Concerns with Ozark Schools

 

By Gretchen Garrity

The Ozark Schools Support Team is holding two town hall meetings on Thursday and Saturday at the Christian County Library, Ozark branch. The first meeting will be August 17, from 5:30-7 p.m., and the second will be August 19, from 9:30-11 a.m. The library is located at 1005 N. 4th Ave., in Ozark.

Topics to be covered include the top-down organizational structure that prevents local control, the role of administration members, how to best utilize school board members, the current audit petition, how you can get involved, and much more.

A small example of information from a brochure that will be available at the town hall meetings includes:

• Ozark Schools spending has increased in the last five years from $63.3 million to an estimated $101.6 million for the 2023-24 school year.

• The Ozark School District has at least $90 million in debt.

• Building maintenance has been deferred

• Teacher salaries are lower than nearby districts

RTWO spoke with a member of OSST, Ruth Downey, and asked her a few questions.

How do you get buy-in from a school board that has long operated under the current system? What would you say to a member if you had their undivided attention, but only for a few minutes?

The school board training that we have seen would seem to give the organization’s story with a slant and implies that all control is in the superintendent’s hands while limiting or ignoring the influence the school board has--with only a passing mention of students or students’ needs and priorities.

The training indicates that board members are not to interact with the public that elected them or give their personal opinion to anyone at any time. It is necessary for the parents and taxpaying community to become better informed as to what is going on in their district, not just what their students are exposed to or what is being communicated in the local press. The school has unlimited positive communication channels open to them, making it difficult to get information to people unless they are willing to look for it and network with those who are working to improve our schools and the education our students are receiving.

An example of this is the claimed graduation rate of 97.6% in Ozark schools, yet over 40% of our students are currently testing at achievement levels that are "Basic" or "Below Basic.” These terms mean they have a minimal or partial understanding of the material they are being tested on: Reading, Science, Math, and Language Arts. This implies that 40% are not work, college, or citizenship ready and are not prepared to function in the world today, much less prepared for what the future will bring.

It seems as if the children and their academic well-being have suffered greatly in the last few years. What can turn things around quickly?

The biggest problem we have seen is the pressure coming on school districts and school boards from state, national even international organizations with little or no awareness of this happening at the local level. School boards can change that by using the responsibility they have and asking more questions about these outsiders, and transparently sharing that with their local community, including the financial cost of some of these programs. These organizations are not locally based and many do not share our values and concerns for our families, short and long term. Doing this would allow local schools to be local and get back to teaching curriculum with content and structure learning for their students’ benefit.

There is a move in many different public institutions to move away from institutional accreditation for certain positions. Do you see that happening with school associations? Why or why not?

Like most businesses, staffing is a huge challenge within education. Missouri recently passed a law that lowered the requirements for substitutes allowing community members that are not certified to share their skills and experience while supporting local schools and benefiting students. Ozark schools have taken advantage of volunteers and tutors from the community as well.

Traditionally, licensing and certification has been a way to limit those who can participate in a given field and is often used by organizations to control who can and cannot participate. We have heard of teachers being threatened with loss of their certifications, their livelihood and way of supporting their family, if they do not conform to administration dictates. This is a harmful use of power. That said, there is a place for basic requirements for teachers; we are just not sure these requirements should be dictated by organizations on the state and national level.

It seems as if the schools ask for more and more funding, but scores keep falling. Why is that?

Schools keep increasing the number of non-teaching administrators with an average salary double that of teachers, while adding layers of administrative tasks on teachers. Teachers spend more and more time filling out reports, teaching values that may or may not be the values of Ozark and Christian County, and maintaining discipline and less time on content, comprehension and understanding. They are often required to use curriculum that limits what and how they can teach and frequently cannot use creative approaches that allow them to connect with their students in a meaningful way.

One suggestion, an easy one, is that the superintendent should not sit at the same table as the school board. Why is that important?

This sounds symbolic, but superintendents have been in the habit of literally running the meetings which gives the impression, particularly to the public, that they are in charge of the board, rather than that the school board is the legal authority in charge of the superintendent.

The school board has the authority from the State of Missouri to hire and fire the superintendent, which is not always apparent to the general public. In past meetings the superintendent has been in full control of the meeting as the superintendent already sets the agenda prior to the meeting, controls the information packet distribution to the board and the timing of it. This often results in insufficient time to digest the contents and supporting documents by board members and does not allow them to make informed decisions.

Most decisions seem to be already made prior to the open board meetings and the school board has little or no input and basically operates like a "rubber stamp.” Another simple thing to change would be to simplify access to information on the school's website. Other schools have much simpler lists that are easy to locate with budgets, financials, monthly reports, minutes and agendas going years back. Such access would lower the difficulty for the public to be informed and address issues as the agenda is again, controlled by the superintendent, and available to the public the minimum 24 hours required by law.

If the public wants to address anything not on the agenda (which they don't see until 24 hours before the meeting) it takes a minimum of a week and a visit with the superintendent to perhaps have that opportunity as the superintendent may or may not add something to the agenda. Ozark has promised to begin archiving the open school board meetings, something they have not been doing.

Anything else you would like to share?

Our teachers are devoted and among the best around and desire what is best for their students. Sadly, their ability to be creative and to teach is constrained by requirements and curriculum they are given by school administrations. They often work under trying circumstances with limited resources. Our children, our grandchildren, the students of every school, are our most precious resource and the future of our country. They deserve the best. It seems, however, that the current structure of the education system is serving itself and its goals while neglecting the education of students.

___________________________________________________________________________________

For more information about the town hall meetings and the Ozark Schools Support Team:

Email: OSST65721@gmail.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OzarkSchoolsSupportTeam

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@OzarkSchoolsSupportTeam

Website: https://www.ozarksst.com

County Health Department Seeks Citizen Engagement

 

Remodeled lobby of health department (Photo: Jody Pena)

By Gretchen Garrity

The Christian County Health Department held their monthly board meeting on August 15, 2023. The meeting is open to the public and meets the third Tuesday of the month at 8:30 a.m., at 301 Brick St., in Ozark.

The board spoke with Carolyn O'Kelley  SPHR, SHRM-SCP,  Human Resources Consultant from Ollis/Akers/Arney Insurance & Business Advisors, who has worked with the health department in the past helping to develop job descriptions. The position of a marketing specialist is the first new position she is helping the health department to develop.

The marketing specialist position has been created in order to engage with the community as a purveyor of information, particularly the resources available to help Christian County citizens.

Board Member Ken Spangler noted that the position would not be one of trying to drive any particular behavior, but to allow citizens to make decisions on their own.

It was noted that trust in government health departments is very low, about 38% for local health departments. It was also noted that the Covid response has driven a lot of the distrust.

The role of a marketing specialist will focus on the sharing of information and resources to help Christian County residents, and to enhance transparency. Other duties will include online content creation, scheduling of events with the mobile unit, presenting, and coordinating community events.

Board Member Ron Nelson noted the position would be designed to improve outreach and listening skills on the part of the health department. Board Member Leah Gregory asked about the budget for a new position and Nelson noted that the current budget had more than enough funds to hire a marketing specialist. It will be some weeks before the position is ready to be advertised.

The health department has been seeking nurses to fill needed positions and currently has hired three part-time nurses, with two more in mind. One or more of those positions may be converted to full-time. All of the nurses are registered with current licenses.

Administrator Karen Peak also spoke about the local WIC program, noting that in upcoming reports, the Health Department should be seeing an increase in usage of the program. She noted that immunizations are up because the new school year is approaching.

In other news, the health department is currently consulting with an architect about a needed new roof, which has been leaking, as well as plans for an addition. There was discussion about whether the new roof on the current building could be rolled into the planned addition in a bid process. An architect will be consulted.

The remodel of the interior lobby is nearly complete, with a few finishing touches to be completed soon.

The health department's current mission statement is, “The Christian County Health Department serves and protects the county citizens by promoting healthy behaviors, increasing understanding of health issues and improving the quality of the environment. This is accomplished by assessment, planning, and assurance activities provided in a caring, confidential and cost effective atmosphere.”