Culture wars in the schools

Many school board meetings across Hampton Roads — and across Virginia — grew heated over divisive concepts such as critical race theory and concerns over books available in libraries.

At the start of the year, Youngkin encouraged parents to report “divisive concepts” such as critical race theory and white privilege to his administration through an email tip line. This effort resulted in thousands of complaints on a variety of topics, and it trickled down to the schools.

Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools was embroiled in a debate over a textbook featuring a picture of a Black Lives Matter protest on the cover, with many saying it was teaching critical race theory despite school officials arguing it did not.

Books featuring sexually explicit content brought out community members claiming schools were allowing children to access inappropriate materials in libraries.

Virginia Beach became the center of national attention over book challenges that made their way to court when Del. Tim Anderson and former congressional candidate Tommy Altman argued “Gender Queer: A Memoir” and “A Court of Mist and Fury” were obscene for children after the books were found in school libraries. The case was ultimately dismissed, but this issue among others became a major part of the November election as conservative groups pushed to “flip” the school board.

With the newly elected board members set to take their seats and a new state law that requires schools to notify parents of sexually explicit materials being used in classrooms, many of these debates can be expected to continue in 2023.