After state school board member Emily Green explained why Utah needs to spend $60,000 looking into how schools buy books, she got a blunt response:
“I hear you saying you think that vendors are intentionally selling pornographic materials to schools,“ board member Carol Lear said. “Is that what you’re saying?”
Moments earlier, Green had argued that “pornographic novels” are “making it” into Utah’s public schools, despite the state’s strict sensitive materials law. She cited the dozens of titles banned from all public schools after multiple districts determined they amounted to the state’s definition of pornographic or otherwise indecent material.
“You know, if we wanted to spin it politically,” Green replied to Lear, “You could say: ‘Yeah, we’re putting our stake in the ground and, yes, that’s happening.’”
The exchange transpired during the Utah State Board of Education’s regular meeting Aug. 6, where a majority of board members ultimately approved Green’s proposal.
The $60,000 “School Library Materials Acquisition and Procurement Review” will now examine several front-end processes related to book purchases and third-party vendors.
“What we want to understand is how vendors have access to public education,” Green said. “And we don’t understand that relationship.”
The review will involve three phases: a fiscal analysis; a technical review of supply chain logistics and procurement contracts; and a statewide examination of library staff qualifications, according to board documents.
Read the full article by Carmen Nesbitt at sltrib.com.
This article is published through the Utah News Collaborative, a partnership of news organizations in Utah that aims to inform readers across the state.