Committee previews quarter‑4 book club lists for fifth and sixth grades with parental permission options

Erin Faust, curriculum and instruction program administrator, presented the quarter‑4 book club lists for fifth and sixth grades at the Feb. 11 Curriculum Committee meeting and described the permission process and content notes the department will share with families.

Faust said families may grant blanket permission for the year or opt into a unit‑by‑unit permission process. The district sends both paper and digital permission forms and will include explanatory material with each book list so families can make informed choices.

For the fifth‑grade list, Faust said two titles were new this year and were marked on the materials shown to the committee: The Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library and The BFG. Teams reviewed titles and determined screen categories; Faust said the two titles under review were marked NA in the district’s three screening categories and would be added to the available options.

For sixth grade, Faust said the quarter‑4 unit focuses on books in verse and author craft. Several sixth‑grade titles were new to the list, and staff documented specific content notes to share with families so they could decide whether to grant permission. Faust read short excerpts or described passages to show why the notes were included: one title contains a short inferred adult contact scene (described as “very, very benign” but noted for transparency), Brown Girl Dreaming contains a scene of corporal punishment (a child punished with a switch), Hidden includes a brief mention of a gunshot and car door opening, Rhyme Schemer contains occasional crude language typical of middle‑school dialogue, and Red, White & Whole is noted in reviews for a teenage kiss. Faust said the passages, as presented, did not meet the district threshold for removal but warranted disclosure to families; she said full text evidence can be provided to the board on request.

Board members expressed appreciation for the transparency and the permission choices. Faust said the district will remove the pink highlighting used in the meeting materials before the family distribution and will finalize language on the permission slips (for example, adding “shooting mentioned” to the Hidden entry). No formal action was taken; the committee received the lists and the planned family‑notification materials.