Norwin board rejects ban on book, despite board member's objections

Norwin’s fifth grade students can read “Al Capone Does My Shirts” after the school board Monday deadlocked on an attempt to ban the book from the students’ supplemental reading curriculum.

The board’s minority faction — Christine Baverso, Alex Detschelt, Shawna Ilagan and Robert Wayman — voted to remove it from the curriculum, while Darlene Ciocca, William Essay, Raymond Kocak and Patrick Lynn opposed the move. Director Joanna Jordan, who often votes against the minority faction, was absent from the meeting.

The controversy over the 2005 novel focused again — as it has the past two months — on the author Gennifer Choldenko’s use of the word “rapists” to describe some of the prisoners, along with an outdated derogatory word for an autistic teenager, a brief description of nudity by the girl and some words the characters use that could have sexual connotations.

The book is set in 1935 and tells the story of a family living on Alcatraz Island, near San Francisco. It is told from the point of view of a 12-year-old boy.

Ilagan said the book should be replaced with a more “responsible” book for the curriculum.

Ilagan pointed out that Superintendent Jeff Taylor sent an email to the Norwin community in October that the district disavowed the use of the derogatory term for mentally challenged person that Detschelt, a conservative Republican, used prior to the November election in a political meme criticizing then Lt. Gov. John Fetterman. Ilagan said she did not agree with Detschelt’s use of that language in the meme, which resulted in a censure against him by the board majority at its November meeting.

“We’re practicing ‘selective outrage,’” Ilagan said.

Wayman said Detschelt’s use of the word was in a political context and used on social media that was shared by adults. He contended it was the “very definition of hypocrisy” to have a book containing that word, yet to have the district issue a statement condemning the use of that word by a school director.

Ciocca said the district has a policy permitting parents the right to excuse their child from reading a book they find objectionable, and they would receive another reading assignment. A parent who initially objected to the book later permitted their child to read it, Ciocca said.

Prior to the vote, Taylor questioned what the administration should do about other books that a person may find objectionable, whether they should do word searches to determine if a book has a word that someone finds offensive. Taylor said other books in the district have the same word that the opponents find offensive.

“I need to know what this means,” Taylor said.

This was the second time Detschelt complained about a book and the result was the same — the book was not banned. In the fall, Detschelt had said that the picture book “All Are Welcome” should be pulled because of images he contended showed an alternative lifestyle with gay couples, interracial couples, a single mother, immigrants and scenes with colors that he said indicated gay Pride.

Among residents who addressed the issue, Kristen Bezick of North Huntingdon said there should be no controversy over removing the book and those who wanted to remove it were just doing their due diligence. Parents who don’t object to the book can allow their children to borrow it from a library, Bezick said.

Tracey Czajakowski, a former school board director, said that Detschelt had taken “out of context” words he found objectionable. Czajkowski, an educational consultant, said she did not find the sexual innuendo that opponents claimed was in the book.

Choldenko’s book is “teaching empathy,” Czajkowski said.

Related:

• Norwin director wants to ban book that uses derogatory term he used on social media

• Norwin delays decision to remove book from 5th grade classes