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Wentzville teacher urges civility and shared review process in book‑challenge debates
Summary
A Wentzville Schools educator spoke in public comment to reject accusations of nefarious intent in classroom reading choices and urged collaborative book review and parental‑teacher dialogue.
During the Jan. 16 meeting public comment period, Wentzville School District educator and parent Andy Dubitsky told trustees he has not observed any effort by WSD teachers to "indoctrinate" students and said insinuations that teachers have nefarious intent are "wrong and honestly damaging." Dubitsky described classroom practice in his sophomore literature course, where students select from a range of texts to encourage reading engagement, and said that offering choice is a research‑supported practice to increase motivation and intrinsic engagement.
Dubitsky said that while some titles may be inappropriate for certain readers, those texts should be examined individually by a group of stakeholders who read the full book, research it and collaborate to determine a text's cumulative impact. He urged parents with concerns to speak directly with teachers or librarians about how texts were chosen and to describe discomfort so schools and families can work toward solutions.
Dubitsky recommended any new board policy on challenged books be framed as an opportunity to build trust and collaborative relationships between families and school staff. He emphasized the priority of student outcomes and said teachers' goal is to support learning.
Ending: The speaker urged respectful dialogue between parents and teachers and said research supports offering students reading choices to improve engagement.
