The public participation portion of the Columbia County Board of Education’s regular session on Tuesday saw nine speakers address the board, many of them regarding the availability of literature and other materials in district schools, and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, with opinions expressed on either side of the issue.
“Fostering inclusion and awareness for multicultural education is important,” said TeKay Brown-Taylor, speaking alongside, and on behalf of, former Augusta NAACP president Beulah Nash-Teachey, who was present and scheduled to speak but suffering an ailment that hindered use of her voice. “I believe public education should not be censored without the input of the public. I also believe students should be able to walk in their school library and not have every book and literary item whitewashed.”
Brown-Taylor invoked the names of Michael Brown and George Floyd in her address, and also mentioned the novels “Dear Martin” by Nic Stone, which was removed from Columbia County schools in 2019; and “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison, which has been the subject of controversy in the district over the last several months.
Likewise, Jenny Roberts spoke against banning books and in favor of the incorporation of diversity, equity and inclusion in school curriculum.
“I implore you, plead with you, to be strong, fair and objective as you sit in the seat of authority and oversight of the educational process for all our children,” said Roberts. “That you do not cave in to the loud minority with their dog whistle politics that use hot button buzzwords like ‘CRT wokeism,’ ‘cancel culture,’ ’pornography,’ ’genital mutilation’ and outright denial or rejection of people in groups who do not fit in the minds ideology and the social strategy of the loud minority. They are posing a serious threat to our education system.”
Janet Duggan, a regular at school board meetings, stressed that she had asked the board for nine months to address IFDB, the code for board procedure for media, in regard to its opt-out option for books in libraries.
“I would think that no matter whether someone believes or not that a book should or should not be in the library, that we could all agree that a parent should have a policy available to them, so that they can make a decision whether their child has access to that information, those books which some parents deem as harmful,” said Duggan.
This came after School Superintendent Steven Flynt mentioned in his superintendent report several house bills relevant to education in the district, including House Bill 1178, “relating to education, so as to prevent the use of and reliance upon curricula or training programs which act upon, promote, or encourage certain concepts.”
The evening had begun on a congratulatory note, with the board recognizing several student achievements, including Grovetown High School winning third place in the Georgia High School Weightlifting Competition, and the Boys’ Basketball team winning the state championshlip.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter covering education in Columbia County and business-related topics for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
