Timeline, webpage set up for book complaints

A Greeley-evans School District 6 committee is expected to release its recommendation soon on the first of 15 book titles under review based on complaints received from parents and district residents.

District 6 Chief of Communications Theresa Myers said Tuesday afternoon the 22-person Book Review Committee could issue its report on “Beloved” by Toni Morrison next week.

The report will be received by Superintendent Deirdre Pilch, who will have 30 days to review the recommendation. Pilch may support the recommendation or make a suggestion to alter it, she stold the school board Monday.

The committee’s report, Pilch’s review and other information on the book review process — including a tentative timeline — will be posted on the district website. Parents and district residents who filed complaints will receive letters on the district’s decision on the books, Pilch said. Dissatisfied complainants will have 10 days to appeal to the board.

According to the tentative timeline, the committee will review books through June 2024. All members of the committee are reading each book. Myers said the committee has at least three meetings for each book — when members begin the book, when they meet for public comment and to discuss the material.

The committee will next review “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian” by Sherman Alexie. Myers said the listed timelines might be generous given that the committee is a volunteer group.

The committee is being led by retired assistant superintendent Wes Tuttle. Tuttle, who continues to work part time, spent more than 30 years in District 6 and retired in 2022 as the assistant superintendent for elementary and K-8 leadership.

District 6 legal counsel Nathan Fall and retired administrator Dianna Riley are two other facilitators of the committee.

The committee is reviewing the books to determine if the materials should require parent consent for access.

“Even though a parent can go to a school and say, ‘I don’t want my kid accessing books,’ ” Myers said.

Since books have been a topic of discussion in the district, parents and residents speaking out about books they deem inappropriate have said they are not in favor of banning books. Some have said they simply want the right to decide if their children should be able to access certain materials.

The other books the committee will review are “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” by Jonathan Safran Foer, “Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini, “Sloppy Firsts” by Megan Mccafferty, “Nineteen Minutes” by Jodi Picoult, “Real Live Boyfriends” by E. Lockhart, “More Happy than Not” by Adam Silvera, “A Court of Mist and Fury” by Sarah J. Maas, “Almost Perfect” by Brian Katcher, “The God of Small Things” by Arundhati Roy, “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” by Jesse Andrews, “This One Summer” by Mariko Tamaki, “The Truth About Alice” by Jennifer Mathieu and “Tricks” by Ellen Hopkins.

Myers said the books might be available on shelves in libraries as well as being taught as part of curriculum.

She said she doesn’t know if any of the books are currently being taught.