LYNCHBURG, VA – The ‘Free Speech Handbook: A Practical Framework for Understanding Our Free Speech Protections,’ is not your average comic book.
“What about the table of contents first caught your eye?” 10 News Reporter Abbie Coleman asked Lynchburg parent Samantha Citty.
“Oh chapter six for sure, I’m not going to repeat that,” Citty said, referencing a chapter title with the F-word.
Samantha Citty’s son is in the fifth grade and received the book during an orientation event last week.
“There were clear bags on each desk with stacks of books, and I had to even ask the teacher, ‘Hey are we taking these? What’s going on?’ and she said, ‘Yeah, sure. They’re extra books, supplemental, do whatever you want with them,’” Citty said.
She didn’t think anything of it, until she got an email from Lynchburg City Schools saying about fifty books were given out ‘in error’ to fourth and fifth graders, and contained ‘inappropriate material.’
When she opened the book, she immediately saw the f-word in the table of contents.
“I was just kind of like, ‘Oh, that’s not something I would see in a book for fifth grade,” Citty said.
It has your typical cartoon drawings, but inside, you’ll find a host of curse words, and controversial material.
Coleman bought the book herself to see what the problems were.
It’s a graphic novel, talking about controversial, landmark free speech cases throughout history - but it doesn’t shy away from curse words, topics like Stormy Daniels and the Jerry Falwell Hustler magazine case.
“I do question the vetting system,” Citty said.
Coleman sat down with Deputy Superintendent for Instruction Amy Pugh to see how these books got to the point of distribution.
She tells us the division has had a partnership with the Virginia Education Foundation for several years, and they always donate extra books.
This year, they donated over 22,000 books.
“They do have a vetting system of their own,” Pugh said.
In a statement by the VEF, they say the book was vetted, intended for high school students, and mistakenly given to the wrong grade by the school system.
They also add, they respect Lynchburg City School’s opinion that the book isn’t appropriate for any of their students.
As for the school division, their vetting process includes researching the books online, reading reviews, and seeing what grade level the books are considered appropriate for - she tells us the book was marked for fourth and fifth grade ‘in error.’
“Should we receive any more book donations from anyone, we’ll certainly have a more thorough process,” Pugh said.
While she’s not upset, Citty wants the school and the education foundation to be more careful.
“My son and I do talk about what is appropriate language and what isn’t, and I’m not naïve enough to think that he’s never heard this language before in his life, but at the same time, if he’s reading it in actual materials endorsed by the school, it’s kind of like saying, ‘hey we endorse this language as well,’” Citty said.
The VEF statement from Director George Becker can be found in full below:
The Virginia Education Foundation (VEF) is a nonprofit that gives multiple public school systems in Virginia, including LCS, about two million dollars of quality, well-reviewed books each year. VEF’s mission is to support children’s literacy, grade-level reading, and school success. In the past four years, VEF has donated a total of 92,552 children’s books (retail value $1,492,458) to LCS for LCS students. Each year, LCS has acknowledged that VEF’s donated books support LCS’s grade-level reading efforts, interest and engage LCS students in reading, and support scholastic instruction for LCS students. LCS’s annual Project Reports to VEF confirm this. In early March 2024, VEF was pleased to donate 22,169 new, quality, well-reviewed books to LCS. Last week, LCS told us that one title (out of the 86 titles VEF donated to LCS in March 2024) was considered “inappropriate.” The book in question, Free Speech Handbook: A Practical Framework for Understanding Our Free Speech Protections, is well-reviewed, intended for teenagers, and recommended for high school civics education classes and school libraries. It describes 10 Supreme Court decisions in the past 100 years about this important right and topic in America - free speech. Somehow, on the busy first day of school, LCS gave 50 copies of this book to fourth and fifth-grade students. LCS then decided that this particular book wasn’t appropriate for any LCS student. While we and others may think this well-reviewed title is appropriate for many high-schoolers, we absolutely respect the fact that LCS educators and some parents think otherwise. Given the large number of titles and books we donate (and the fact that each school system knows their students, families, and community best), we leave the important decision of who gets which books to each school system. That said, we further respect parents’ right to have different opinions about particular books. VEF values our partnerships with LCS and other Virginia public school systems. We remain proud to have donated and shipped over 92,500 free books (retail value nearly 1.5 million dollars) to LCS for LCS students. It may be helpful to keep in mind that the title in question is only 1 title out of all the titles VEF donated, included only 200 copies, and only 50 young students at LCS (rather than teenagers) received it - along with other wonderful, free books donated by VEF to LCS. We know that LCS is using their best judgment about this one title on behalf of LCS children and families, and VEF respects that. We hope to continue to work cooperatively with LCS and to donate many tens of thousands of free, new, quality picture books and chapter books in the coming years to benefit LCS students.
VEF Director, George Beker