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New Hanover board declines to add review of Ibram X. Kendi book to meeting agenda; issue moved to curriculum committee
Summary
Board member Judy Justice asked to add a discussion about the removal of the book Stamped from an AP classroom; the motion to amend the agenda failed 5–2. Board members said the curriculum committee will review the matter.
Board member Judy Justice tried to add discussion of the book Stamped by Ibram X. Kendi to the May board meeting agenda, saying the book had been removed from a classroom 18 months earlier and that parents and teachers were seeking an explanation.
Justice said she wanted the matter on the public agenda “so the public can see we are doing something” and to get information about the promised alternative assigned for students while the original text was withheld. She told the board the curriculum staff member who had been tasked with identifying an alternative was present and that she expected the curriculum committee to take the matter up soon.
Other trustees pushed back. Trustee Josie Barnhart and Board Chair Melissa Mason said the curriculum committee was the proper venue for developing an alternative in a collaborative process with staff. Trustee David Perry said he initially voted to place the item on the agenda to follow policy but later supported referring it to curriculum. Trustee Pat Bradford and others pointed to staff turnover and a lapse in administrative follow-through after a superintendent and chief academic officer change last year.
Trustees debated whether the chair had authority to move the item to committee without a board vote. Dr. Tim Merrick cited Board policy 23-30, saying two board members must request an item be added to the agenda and that the chair cannot unilaterally reassign a matter already requested by a board member. Mason and others said the curriculum committee referral came out of the agenda review meeting to ensure a collaborative, staff-involved review.
A motion to amend the agenda to add discussion of Stamped failed on a roll call vote, 2–5. Judy Justice and Dr. Tim Merrick voted yes; Josie Barnhart, Melissa Mason, Pat Bradford, David Perry and Pete Wildebore voted no. After the vote the board proceeded with the original agenda. Board members said the curriculum committee will review the book and report back to the board when it has completed its work.
Public commenters at the meeting offered strongly divergent views. Katie Gates and several speakers urged the board to reinstate the book or to allow broader access and to follow existing review procedures; other speakers described concerns about the book’s sourcing and interpretation of history and urged caution. Several commenters framed the dispute as part of a broader debate over curriculum, parental rights and classroom material review processes.
Board members and staff did not adopt new policy or issue a public timetable for the curriculum committee’s review at the meeting. Trustees said the committee process — not ad hoc board action at the dais — would be used to examine the AP course materials and any proposed alternatives.
The meeting record shows the dispute has been ongoing: Justice says the book was removed 18 months earlier and that teachers and parents expect the promised alternative to be returned or explained; others say the committee route is the district’s established process and should be followed.
What’s next: The curriculum committee will consider the matter; the board did not schedule a specific date at the May meeting. The public comments and the failed agenda amendment signal the issue will likely return to a future meeting when the curriculum committee reports its findings.
