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Parent asks Cherry Creek board to remove a required book and strengthen advance-notification policy
Summary
A parent, Jessica Pricey, told the Nov. 10 board meeting her freshman was uncomfortable with a required reading assignment and asked the board to remove the title from required reading lists and to require schools to notify parents in advance of sensitive material; she cited Mahmood v. Taylor regarding parental opt-out rights.
Jessica Pricey addressed the board during public comment on Nov. 10 and requested the district remove a book from required reading lists after her freshman expressed discomfort with its content.
Pricey said she followed the district's formal review process and that building, district and superintendent reviews had recommended retaining the book. "While I acknowledge that the book has some merit, the normalization of [sexual content] to minors should be disqualifying," she told the board, using the meeting's allotted two minutes.
She asked the board to strengthen district policy so that schools must notify parents in advance of any sensitive or controversial material in required reading and noted an online petition she created to demonstrate community support. She cited court precedent, saying, "As affirmed in Mahmood versus Taylor, parents have the right to opt out their children of certain content, but this right is meaningless if parents are not informed beforehand."
The board did not take action on the request that evening; Pricey's comments were recorded during the public-comment portion of the meeting and the transcript shows district review panels had recommended retaining the title.
