ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – The St. Johns County School District will consider pulling four books from school shelves at Tuesday’s special board meeting.
The four books -- which are intended for high school-aged readers -- are already on the district’s book objection list:
- “Slaughterhouse Five” by Kurt Vonnegut
- “Freedom Writer’s Diary” by The Freedom Writers
- “L8r, G8r” by Harry N. Abrams
- “A Stolen Life” by Jaycee Dugard
Nancy Tray, who has three children enrolled at SJC schools, said she is concerned because the books have already been through the objection process.
“These books already went through a district-wide review committee that was comprised of parents, and district employees and community members. And they carefully read the entire work and considered it and its entirety as a whole,” Tray said. “It’s such a waste to me that we’re spending time defending these great books instead of dealing with real issues facing our kids in our schools today.”
Tray said she wants her children to have access to the books up for reconsideration.
“Slaughterhouse Five is a classic,” Tray said. “Here we are on Memorial Day, this is a book that was written by an American soldier who fought in World War II, and he was a prisoner in a slaughterhouse there, and he came back and wrote this semi-autobiographical novel based on his experience.”
Tray said she would love for her children to have the opportunity to read that book and felt like her rights as a parent weren’t considered.
“I’ve got teenagers streaming in and out of here all day long. They deal with difficult issues. They’re trying to understand stuff that they’re going through, that their friends are going through,” Tray said. “These books have been picked by the professionals in their school to help them sort of understand their world and understand different perspectives.”
News4JAX reached out to the school district for comment. Christina Upchurch, chief of community relations, was not available Monday but said the public could attend the meeting online or in person.
The meeting is at 9 a.m. Tuesday.