Forsyth parent blasts District Media Committee as “biased, left-leaning”

FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — Cindy Martin, the mother of an 11th grade student in the Forsyth County School System, said this week she is incensed by a “biased and left-leaning” District Media Committee decision to return sexually explicit books to school libraries.

In February, School Superintendent Dr. Jeff Bearden said the books were reviewed administratively. “It was determined they were not appropriate to be in the public schools,” he said.

Director of Communications Jennifer Caracciolo added, “The content in them was what we consider pervasively vulgar.”

So Martin said said she was shocked when the media committee voted unanimously to return seven of the books to the schools.

“The committee is very far left-leaning and has a lot of power,” Martin said. “They decide everything regarding books that are in our school system. What I don’t like about this committee is there are only two non school-employed parents out of 21 members. The rest are all employed by the school system. Parents have no say in what goes on. There needs to be a majority of parents because it’s our kids checking these books out.”

Martin recalled one meeting where she and others made seven recommendations to the committee and all were shot down by a unanimous vote.  “I don’t even know how that is statistically possible, she said. “They had their decisions made before the meeting started. That shows they are biased.”

People close to the school system said a lawsuit was threatened if the books were not returned to schools and that led to the formation of the committee, a group of 21 members, including two are school system employees.

The committee’s surprising decision has raised questions about who this group is and how did they get the power to override a decision made by one of the highest paid superintendent’s in Georgia.

The committee is not answerable to the public and appears to have been established to protect Bearden and the Board of Education from public criticism.

The group is made up of 21 members  — Jason Naile, Lisa Newberry, Courtney Bean, Robin Elmor, Amy Bartlett, Heather Gordy, Darlene Fletcher, Danielle Steele, Ginny Daniels, Dawn Hall, Vicky Spera, Juline Berry, Mac Barron, Jeff Short, Shawn Dillard, Van Lewsader, Liz Rushton, Carrie McAllaster, Becky Britton, Carol Tisdale and Tammi Bramblett. All but two are school employees.

The books that were initially found to be inappropriate are

• “All Boys Aren’t Blue”
• “L8r, g8r”
• “Juliette Takes A Breath”
• “Me Earl and the Dying Girl”
• “Nineteen Minutes”
• “The Bluest Eye”
• “The Infinite Moment of Us”
• “Out of Darkness”