As a parent of students in Davis school district, I am deeply concerned that the district holds the distinction of having the most titles challenged of any district in the state and of those challenged, 37 titles have been removed from school shelves. I am concerned at the message that this sends to our students and our community at large when it becomes acceptable to censor and bar access to books that highlight the experiences of vulnerable and marginalized groups, the same groups that have been the target of hate filled rhetoric and treatment in our very district.

I would hope as educators, our mission is to educate and enlarge students’ exposure to voices that are different than their own, that by that exposure, our children may learn the very concepts of tolerance and inclusivity that have been lacking. I worry that the efforts to battle hate and intolerance in our schools are being actively undermined by these policies that result in the silence of the very voices that speak from spaces of discrimination and oppression. We can and must do better.

Maren Williams Warnick

Syracuse

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