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Parents press Toms River board to review assigned summer reading for honors English
Summary
A parent at the board meeting objected to sections of a mandated summer reading title in Advanced Honors English II, saying explicit chapter excerpts are inappropriate for 14–15 year-olds; the board said the chapters are typically skipped and referred the matter back to the curriculum committee.
A parent raised objections at the Toms River Regional School District board meeting to a mandated summer-reading title assigned for Advanced Honors English II, saying parts of the text were sexually explicit and not appropriate for 14– and 15-year-old students.
At the public-comment podium, the speaker said the district-required text was "How to Read Literature Like a Professor" and read aloud portions of chapter content to illustrate her concerns, telling the board she was troubled that parents were not given advance notice or a waiver option before students were required to read the book as part of course prerequisites.
Board members and staff responded that the book had been on the district’s approved list for some time, but that the specific chapters referenced by the parent are commonly skipped in classroom instruction. A district official said the matter was re-evaluated, administrators had reached out to concerned parents, and the committee would revisit the book’s appropriateness for the classroom.
The parent asked the board to consider requiring parental waivers for mandatory summer reads or otherwise to review the district’s practice of assigning texts before the school year and before parental notice. Board members acknowledged the concern and said staff would bring the matter back to the curriculum committee for review.
No formal policy change or vote on curriculum was taken at the meeting; the board’s response indicated the issue was referred for committee consideration.
