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Resident urges strict standards for required reading, suggests reviewing 'Alexi' placement
Summary
A resident urged the board to ensure required English texts are the strongest choices for adolescent readers and recommended the review committee consider whether the 'Alexi' book ranks among the top 40 works suitable for grades 6–12.
A resident, who identified herself for the record as Mary Ann Knog of 258 Park Street, urged the New Canaan Board of Education on Jan. 6 to apply strict standards when selecting required English texts for middle and high school students and asked the review committee to consider a specific question about a book she referred to as the "Alexi book."
Knog said required classroom reading differs from other reading and that adolescents' brains — "the frontal lobe," she said — are not fully formed until adulthood, citing medical research to argue for careful selection. She said middle and high school students are adolescents, not "young adults," and that required texts should reflect the highest standards of the English canon.
Knog recommended that, rather than asking whether the Alexi book should be removed or capped, the review committee should ask whether it belongs among the "40 or so best works" the district can offer students in grades 6–12. She emphasized that required reading carries an academic stamp of approval and has long‑term imprinting effects for students.
No action or response by the board on curricular policy was recorded during the public‑comment portion; the remark was part of a two‑minute public comment period and did not prompt a board vote.
