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Board member Mrs. Fry asks McGuffey SD to review Scholastic book fairs and evaluate Skytree alternative
Summary
Mrs. Fry urged the board to consider alternatives to Scholastic amid concerns about age-appropriate content; the board agreed to ask administration and teachers to compare Scholastic materials with Skytree and to involve PTOs and staff in the review.
At the June 20 committee meeting, board member Mrs. Fry asked the board to open a districtwide review of Scholastic book-fair materials and to consider alternatives after community members raised concerns about content. "Why are we supporting a company that has drifted so far in these directions?" Mrs. Fry asked, citing a 2020 Scholastic classroom article and Junior Scholastic materials that discussed George Floyd and policing and saying those items prompted concern about suitability for first- through sixth-grade students.
Mrs. Fry said she contacted BraveBooks, which referred her to Skytree, and asked the board to direct administration to collect information from teachers and the PTO and to compare Skytree's offerings. "I want more feedback from community, from teachers, from administration, from anybody who has anything to provide any kind of guidance or offer any suggestions," she said.
Other board members emphasized the need to involve teachers before making changes. One member said Scholastic already allows districts to specify what items are sent and that parents who participated in book fairs reported experiences that differed from their expectations. The board discussed practical differences: Mrs. Fry said Scholastic offers about a 50% giveback while the representative materials she had seen for Skytree indicated about a 40% giveback and that Skytree's catalog is smaller ("around 200 books") compared with Scholastic's larger offerings.
Board members agreed it would be useful for administration and teachers to review Skytree materials and to bring findings back to the board. "My suggestion would be, before we get way far in this conversation, that we ask the administration to get with the teachers and have them provide us back, be part of the discussion," a board member said. The board asked the administration to include the PTOs in that review.
No formal vote was taken during the committee discussion; board members signaled consensus to have administration gather the comparison materials and report back, likely after summer vacation so teachers could participate. The board will consider the information before making any policy or vendor changes.
