Public commenters urge OPS to remove or restrict certain books; speakers cite The Bluest Eye and curriculum concerns

Two members of the public used the board’s May 5 public comment period to ask Omaha Public Schools to restrict some books available in school libraries or classrooms.

Michelle Rogers told the board she is concerned about a book she identified as The Bluest Eye being available in four OPS schools. She read passages from the book into the record and said the material includes sexual assault and explicit descriptions that she finds inappropriate for students. "This is extreme perverted stuff," Rogers said, and urged the board to remove such books from the district’s collections.

Michaella Kazor also spoke, saying she appears before the board regularly because of the impact of school library or assigned books on students’ mental health. Kazor described being assigned books she said promoted arranged marriages and said classroom materials and library programming once made her feel "silenced". She said her remarks are not intended to attack staff but to ask the board to consider the effects of certain curricular materials on students.

Board members did not take immediate policy action during the public‑comment period. The public‑comment rules cited by the board (Policy 83‑46) limit speakers to five minutes and prohibit board responses during the comment period. The speakers asked the board to consider bans or limits for specified titles and to review the district’s selection practices; the transcript records the titles and passages quoted by speakers but the board did not vote on removals at the meeting.