After a challenge and three appeals, the York County (Va.) School Board has chosen to keep Tripping Over the Lunch Lady and Other Short Stories in the library at Magruder Elementary School in Williamsburg despite claims that it is offensive to children with loved ones serving in the military and inappropriate for elementary school students.
The book was given to students as part of an optional reading program in April. Parent Cyndi Treiber, whose husband is serving in Iraq, asked that the book be removed from the school library due to references to war, bombs, and soldier casualties in one of the short stories, the Newport News Daily Press reported October 18.
“We could hardly believe this content was in a children’s book . . . and had been passed out in a county with the largest military child percentage in Hampton Roads,” Treiber wrote in a letter to Superintendent Steven Staples, the paper reported October 5. Approximately 42% of students attending the school district have parents in the military.
Treiber also said the school should have followed publisher Dial Books’ recommendation that the book was suitable for students in 5th–7th grades. Her son was in 3rd grade when he read it.
The school board, however, upheld previous appeal decisions after reviewing the book, examining the makeup of the appeal committees, and contacting county residents and military families for their opinion. “We certainly considered [Treiber’s] concern and took it very seriously, but felt the school had addressed it and felt the book was appropriate to place in the Magruder Elementary library,” YCSB Chief Academic Officer Jennifer Parish said. She also noted that the district had considered the publisher’s age recommendations, but wanted to provide a book that could challenge students.