Central Bucks School Board votes in favor of controversial book plan

DOYLESTOWN, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- The Central Bucks School Board passed a controversial book plan Tuesday night.

The board voted 6-3 in favor of the plan.

The new policy calls for the creation of a committee that would determine which reading materials would be appropriate for small children as opposed to high schoolers.

Superintendent Dr. Abram Lucabaugh says the "library materials policy" is designed to give parents a stronger voice with regard to what their children are exposed to at school.

He says the point is not to remove books from schools but to make sure that any material that includes explicit or sexual content, in particular, is limited according to the ages of the children who have access to it.

"The focus on the policy tonight is rooted in age-appropriateness to ensure it's aligned with our content and our curriculum," Lucabaugh said.

Before the meeting, a protest was held against the new policy.

"I want my children to grow and be empathetic. I want them to understand viewpoints and different lifestyles. I don't want it to be whitewashed," said parent Michelle Wire.

Opponents say this is a thinly veiled invitation to censorship and will result in certain books being banned.

In fact, the American Civil Liberties Union released a statement regarding the situation saying, "Application of this policy will almost certainly result in unconstitutional censorship. And such censorship will assuredly attract federal court lawsuits."

Action News spoke with people who live within the district, some of whom say removing books from libraries never leads to anything good.

"You can set up a committee that says this is OK and this isn't. Then that opens up a whole floodgate of things that can censor things and ought not to be," said Gregory James of Bucks County.

Daniele Compain of Doylestown says, "I think it's a bad thing. You shouldn't censor books. To me, it's against the Constitution."

Others say, there is nothing wrong with an oversight system, especially when it comes to children in kindergarten through 4th grade.

"The library is a place where everybody can go and enjoy and read and have fun, and I think they should, probably, be careful what goes in there. That's my opinion. Not censorship, but just check to see what's going on there," said Jim Garvey of Doylestown.

School officials say an oversight committee will be created which will include many members of staff throughout the school district.