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Students, educators urge McAllen ISD board to include teachers and students in book-review decisions
Summary
Multiple students and a teacher used the public-comment period to oppose broad removal of books and to request that educators and students be included in any school-library book review process; speakers named 13 Reasons Why as an example.
During the public-comment period at the Sept. 23 McAllen ISD board meeting, several high-school students and a teacher urged the board to ensure that school librarians, teachers and students have input into any decisions about removing or restricting books from school libraries.
Alyssa Higdon, who prefaced her remarks with a content warning, read an excerpt from the book 13 Reasons Why and said that panels deciding whether to ban or retain books should include both students and educators. "Including students and teachers in the discussion will help to make the process more holistic," said Gauri Menon, a senior at Lamar, emphasizing librarians’ training in age-appropriate selection and recommending collaborative review rather than outright bans.
Teacher Angelica Rodriguez testified separately during public comment against a proposed district change of the employee health insurer from Blue Cross Blue Shield to UnitedHealthcare, saying her prior coverage had covered a major surgery and questioning whether a change could risk patient care. Her remarks are part of the public-comment record and were heard before the board's business items.
Why it matters: Public comment reflected community concern about library-selection processes for sensitive topics such as suicide and self-harm and about employee benefits; students asked the board to preserve educators’ role in selection and to include student perspectives in panels that review materials.
