Board president filed most book challenges
Jason Saylor made 6 of 9 requests, Vice President Kimberly Mares made 1
Of the nine book challenges in the Perkiomen Valley School District in the past year, seven were made by members of the school board — six of them by its president.
School Board President Jason Saylor has challenged six books since last June, according to information provided by the administration as the result of a Right to Know request by MediaNews Group. All but one of those challenges involved the high school library.
Vice President Kimberly Mares challenged one book — “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison.
In response to questions sent by MediaNews Group, Saylor, who calls his actions “reviews, not challenges,” wrote he does not think the fact that he has filed so many indicates this is an issue being driven by one person.
“Other parents in the district
reached out to me about them and other books and after I did research and read them, I submitted if I agreed. There are others I have not agreed with and there are books I am still reading,” he wrote.
He added that “many parents are worried about being doxxed or having their information become public. Which has happened to me since the Right to Know became public. I am very comfortable being the public figure and taking the phone calls to my house, etc. Parents of our district should not be afraid of retribution if they have a question about something.”
MediaNews Group did not seek the identity of anyone challenging a book who is not an elected school board member.
Saylor said he was not aware that five of the seven titles about which he and Mares have expressed official concern are on the list of books being challenged across the country by Moms for Liberty, a nationwide group that has recently risen to prominence for challenging controversial books, particularly in Florida.
The information comes in the context of an ongoing debate on the school board over a proposed policy, which mirrors one adopted by the Central Bucks School District with some controversy, that would make it easier to get books removed from school libraries.
Saylor is the person who proposed that policy and who attempted, unsuccessfully, to get
it to the table for a vote by circumventing the usual procedure of presenting it first to the board policy committee for discussion. That discussion occurred on March 21 and ended with the issue unresolved.
As board president, Saylor has the ability to put matters on the agenda prior to the board meetings but Friday he declined to say whether he will once again introduce the proposed policy for a full board vote at the next meeting. The next work session is sched