Conroe Independent School District Board of Trustees Meeting for January 17, 2023
Part 2 of a multipart series
1/28/2023
By Jonathan Davis Rated R for graphic content
The Meeting
On January 21st, 2023 the Muckrakers invited Mrs. Melissa Dungan to be a guest on their podcast to discuss a decision she made regarding her votes during the Conroe Independent School District (CISD) Board of Trustees meeting; specifically, the votes regarding a book called “The Perks of Being a Wallflower.” This invite was in response to public outcry due to several publications, one of which was by The Golden Hammer (see here https://tinyurl.com/5crrvt8u for more details). The problem is that there is some serious misinformation being spread and therefore The Muckrakers, as per their mandate, decided to sift through the muck to find the good (and the truth). The fact is, the CISD board members had two items pertaining to the book in question that they were voting on. The first vote was to determine whether the student’s parents would be notified if the student expressed interest in the book in question. The terminology used by the board for this was “opt in,” which would require parent involvement with their child’s educational choices. The alternative was “opt out” which would allow a student to check out this book without a parent’s knowledge. Further, the “opt out” would require parents to specifically identify a book that their child could not check out. This does not mean that the child can’t review or read the book while he/she is in the library.
At time stamp 6:49:38, Mr. Skeeter Hubert specifically stated that he is not pulling the book from the schools. He is, however, making it harder for the student to check out the book from the library. The motion was repeated at 6:52:50 which stated, “The Motion is to uphold the decision to the committee, except for the part to remove it from classroom collections at high schools and will remain in the library and can only be accessed with parents’ permission.” Mrs. Theresa Wagaman requested confirmation that this was known as “opt in” from which Mr. Hubert confirmed.
Mrs. Tiffany Baumann Nelson, Mrs. Misty Odenweller, and Mr. Hubert raised their hands in favor of the motion while the rest of the board, Mrs. Theresa Wagaman, Mrs. Stacey Chase, Mr. Datren Williams and Mrs. Melissa Dungan, raised their hands against the motion. Thus, parents would not be notified if their child decided to check out this particular book.
The second motion to “uphold the committee’s decision with an amendment to remove the book from the classroom libraries and proceed to amend the District’s Opt In/Opt Out policy at a later date.”
In the coming days, many people were confused. Some turned to hate and vitriol towards the new member who voted against “Opt In.” Some called her dumb. Others went to Facebook claiming she is a wolf in sheep’s clothing and spewing other hateful rhetoric. Individuals who would call themselves Christian were pouring out some of the worst hate; and a few claiming that their malevolence was granted to them per the bible.
The Real Problem
There are several issues that need to be brought to bear regarding the attack on our kids. Focusing on an issue of removing a book from the classroom is like putting a small bandage on a gushing wound. In the case presented here, people are so upset that a book was voted as opt-out instead of opt-in when the real issue probably should have been to remove the book from the schools altogether. Several passages of “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” go against Texas Status 43.22, 43.22, 43.23, and others. The idea that there is child sexual abuse should be enough to remove the book. Yet people aren’t mad about that?
Where was the outrage when the Muckrakers were discussing child trafficking? Where was the outrage when The Muckrakers were talking about the government overstepping our constitutional rights? Where was the outrage when we were talking about the serious lack of informed consent from our medical professionals? We here at The Muckrakers get it. It is easy to latch onto to something small, or find a boogeyman, and demonize the hell out of the minutia. The fact is, there is a much bigger problem that needs to be addressed.
The United States is at a pivotal point right now. The culture is shifting to a far more lenient and extremely lax society. We have corporate media vying for our attention lying to us every single day to get a rise out of us so that they can make more money. We have a uniparty political system from which the representatives are more interested in getting ahead instead of helping their constituents. We have the administrative state, under the executive branch, for which we did not vote, making rules (not laws) that we the people must abide by. Our constitution is being wrecked, and yet people will demonize one person for a single decision regarding a book. Albeit, the book is bad for any minor in my opinion. However, the problem is not with that person. The problem is cultural. The United States has a cultural divide the size of Texas and growing.
Inch by inch
Will moving a book from the classroom and into the library help our children? Will removing a book from the classroom curriculum be helpful? It could be a small step in the right direction. Or it might not be the impact people think it is. All we can do is try. However, in trying, we must remember that we are human. We will make mistakes. We must lift each other up when we fall. If we never fell, if we never failed, if we never made a mistake, we would never learn. The lightbulb was not invented the first try. It took iterations. We must have perseverance, patience, and, above all, we have to be honest to each other and ourselves. With that, I want to leave you with two quotes to consider as we navigate this treacherous path:
Inch by inch, everything’s a cinch.
By ourselves, we can only do so much. But together, we can do so very much.
Let’s work to build each other up. We will go nowhere if we tear each other apart.
To get a brief overview of the discussion by the Board of Trustees, go to https://www.conroeisd.net/superintendent-board-of-trustees/board-meeting-videos/and watch from 6:36:00 onward. However, it is recommended that the video be started at 4:42:00. This is where the legal discussion of having a book like “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” starts.