Parent Kimberly Zeitler urges Platteville School District to review library books for young readers

Kimberly Zeitler, a parent of three students in the Platteville School District, told the board she had emailed district leadership and came to the meeting to "put a face to the name" after receiving limited responses. She said she has since removed two older children from district schools and described discovering books in the school library and recommended-reading lists she said were inappropriate for children ages 9–11.

"My son was reading books that are completely inappropriate for his age," Zeitler said, citing the Heartstopper series and quoting passages she said included explicit language and depictions of sexual activity. She said her son did not bring the books home and instead read them at school; she distributed copies of pages from the books to the board.

Tara Schaller, who the board identified as the second public-comment speaker, said a sixth-grade classroom list included the Heartstopper series for 10- and 11-year-olds and flagged explicit descriptions she said appeared in later volumes. Schaller also named the sex-education title It's Perfectly Normal, read passages aloud describing sexual activity and pregnancy counseling centers, and said she did not consider such material appropriate for elementary-age readers.

Both speakers asked the board to improve transparency for parents about library holdings and recommended-reading lists; neither speaker recorded a formal request the board acted on during the meeting. The board accepted the public comments as part of the meeting's public-input period and did not take formal action on the books at that session.

What happens next: The comments were entered into the official public-comment record; the transcript shows no motion or staff response during the meeting to remove or reclassify the disputed titles. If the board or administration chooses to respond or consider policy changes, that would appear as a later agenda item or action.