Parents, GOP leaders press Catoosa County board to review classroom books; superintendent cites state complaint process

Residents and local Republican Party officials urged the Catoosa County Board of Education to review dozens of books they said are inappropriate for students, reading long excerpts at the board’s public participation period and urging the board to remove the titles from classrooms.

The push came during public comment at a board meeting where multiple speakers named specific books, including The Fault in Our Stars, Paper Towns and The Hate You Give, and read lengthy excerpts they said demonstrate sexual content, profanity and racism. Joanna Hildreth, chair of the Catoosa County Republican Party, handed board members a copy of a resolution condemning those materials and urged partisan elections for the school board.

Why it matters: Speakers said classroom exposure to the material harms children and that community members should be allowed to review library and classroom holdings. Board…