Oregon School District Deems Book Inappropriate, Pulls 3-5 Graders Out Of Program

Some students in Oregon’s Hermiston School District will not participate in a statewide voluntary reading program after school administrators deemed one of the books inappropriate. The decision was based on a book about a transgender girl. 

The book George follows a character who everyone thinks is a boy but she knows she’s a girl. 

The district’s five elementary principals and the district administrative team reviewed the book and deemed it inappropriate for third through fifth grade students. 

Maria Duron is a spokesperson with the school district. She said the book addresses issues outside the district’s adopted human growth and development curriculum. 

The decision was made based on the curriculum, where the content is not addressed in the curriculum at the fifth grade level. 

The students will instead participate in an in-district Battle of the Books program. The district will decide what books the students will read. 

Duron said the district is not reconsidering its decision at this time.

Copyright 2018 Oregon Public Broadcasting