Board Chair Randy Scamihorn called the dispute over books “ideological.” (all photos by Rebecca Gaunt)
By Rebecca Gaunt
Cobb County Board of Education Chair Randy Scamihorn and board member Brad Wheeler spoke Thursday at a press conference held by citizens who say they are “taking a stand against pornography in Cobb schools.”
Earlier at the school board work session, Superintendent Chris Ragsdale announced that six more books had been pulled from libraries across the district. Five titles are by fantasy author Sarah J. Maas, and the sixth is “Ironfire,” a historical fiction novel by David Ball.
Held outside the Glover Street district office prior to the evening meeting, the event drew about 30 people, including Cobb GOP Chair Salleigh Grubbs.
Arielle Kurtze, a frequent speaker during public comment at board meetings, and the organizer of the press conference, posted the event on Facebook, writing, “We are one seat away from the board being flipped Republican to Democrat and if that happens this will be how they begin to radically change our school system here.”
Book removals have been a contentious issue in the district since teacher Katie Rinderle was fired from Due West Elementary School last year after reading the gender-themed picture book “My Shadow is Purple” by Scott Stuart to her class. She purchased the book at her school’s book fair.
Cobb Pastor Frankie Vega, one of the speakers, had fiery words regarding the book controversy.
“This is egregious. This is a nefarious agenda that is attempting to indoctrinate our kids. Trying to groom them,” he said.
So did Nick Steinichen, lead pastor of Kennesaw’s Four Points Church. He told parents who opposed the removal of the books to repent of their wickedness and gestured to the people standing near a table of banned books.
The two Republican school board members in attendance also gave brief statements, but did not stay for questions.
“I will tell you what I’m going to vote for is keeping our childrens safe and support Cobb’s focus on state standards,” Wheeler said.
Scamihorn told the attendees,“Many parents that I’ve talked to, I’ve asked them to read the books. A lot of the parents aren’t reading and finding out what the content is.”
Skyler Akins, a member of Gays Against Groomers spoke last. During his comments, he got into a brief argument with a parent holding a Read Banned Books banner, when she interrupted with rebuttals to his statements.
“Stop doing this filth in our schools right now. It’s not okay,” he said.
Rinderle is the first known case of a Georgia teacher being fired as a result of the 2022 divisive concepts law passed by the Georgia legislature.
Rinderle is suing the district for discrimination. The U.S. Department of Justice and the attorneys general of 14 states have filed in support of her lawsuit.
Since then Superintendent Chris Ragsdale has approved the removal of 26 total titles across the district. An open records request for records related to the district’s implementation of House Bill 1084 showed that dozens of additional books have been pulled from individual libraries.
At the evening session, two speakers used their public comment time to read a letter from author Emma Kress, who wrote “Dangerous Play,” to the Cobb County school board.
While her book isn’t one of the 26 books on the official list, newer copies were found to have been pulled from individual libraries as part of the open records request.
Kress wrote, “Recently I learned that my book has been banned in the Cobb County School District. This is a shock in and of itself to be sure, but what makes it stranger still, is that my editor, Mekisha Telfer at McMillan, was a Cobb County student herself. As a teacher, I hope I’m lucky enough to have a student who loves reading, writing, and learning so much that she one day becomes an editor. If that happens, I’d like to think our school would proudly display the books she would have worked on.”
Rebecca Gaunt earned a degree in journalism from the University of Georgia and a master’s degree in education from Oglethorpe University. After teaching elementary school for several years, she returned to writing. She lives in Marietta with her husband, son, two cats, and a dog. In her spare time, she loves to read, binge Netflix and travel.
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