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Gardner‑Edgerton board keeps challenged book after heated public comment
Summary
After public commenters urged removal, the Gardner‑Edgerton Board voted to follow the book review committee’s recommendation to retain Lillian Duncan in district library collections; board members split over references to puberty blockers and committee trust.
The Gardner‑Edgerton Board of Education voted to follow its book review committee’s recommendation to keep Lillian Duncan on USD 231 library shelves after public comment and a split board discussion.
Public commenters Carrie Schmidt and Theresa Lang argued the book normalizes transgender medical care for children and urged removal. Schmidt read passages she said advocate early use of hormone blockers and said, “This medication changes and sterilizes the human body forever.” Lang told the board she feared exposure in preschool through high school and cited an Alliance Defending Freedom review and a clinician’s critique of puberty‑blocker studies.
Members of the book review committee and several board members defended retaining the title. One board member said the committee’s process should be trusted, noting a single petition initiated the review but a professional committee recommended retention. Another board member said the book gives visibility to students “experiencing this within our district” and argued removal could “dismiss someone’s experience” and do “a disservice to those kids.”
At the board meeting the committee representative presented the rubric and report used to evaluate the title. Multiple trustees said the book raised real concerns about repeated references to puberty blockers for the 10–14 age group; several named trustees said they could not support keeping the book for that reason. The board nevertheless moved that the committee’s recommendation stand; a motion “to keep the book Lillian Duncan by Donna Giffart on the shelves of the USD 231 library for students to read” was made and seconded and the board recorded a voice vote on the motion.
Board members also discussed reviewing the board’s book review policy after the vote. Administrators noted the policy review schedule and said revisions from state guidance will be considered in a policy review cycle in late winter or early spring.
The meeting record shows both explicit concerns about the book’s references to medical treatments and also support for the review committee’s judgment and for maintaining access for students. The board directed that the policy be placed on an upcoming review agenda.
