The vote to exclude the four books and include the 47 others was approved 4-0-1. Board member Greg Malveaux abstained, saying he did not have sufficient time to review the materials, which were presented to the school board in March.<\/a><\/p>\n A book which did get approved for use in 10th grade English classrooms, “Bloodchild,” a collection of science fiction short stories by celebrated author Octavia Butler, caught the attention of one board member, who called its literary merits into question.<\/p>\n “I appreciate the committee’s recommendation to pull some of these books,” Board of Education Vice President Steve Whisler said, “and I endorse that. made the list, but they did.”]”<\/p>\n Whisler said he found descriptions of a birthing process, physical sexual assault, and psychological sexual assault in “Bloodchild” to be troubling, though not in violation of the board’s policy banning graphic and explicit content. The book’s publisher recommends children receive parental permission before reading the book, he added.<\/p>\n “I was little troubled with… ‘Blood Child,'” Whisler said. “I actually read it, and [it’s] a real weird book: alien domination, surrogacy, and impregnating humans. It’s just really strange. … I struggled on whether or not we should remove that one.”<\/p>\n In January 2024, Whisler introduced a motion to ban all books deemed “sexually explicit” from the school system<\/a>, which the school board unanimously passed<\/a>.<\/p>\n Two members of the Curriculum Council voted against including “Bloodchild,” in lessons, while 25 members voted in favor of the book.<\/p>\n “I completely understand why Mr. Whisler brought up the appropriateness of the book ‘Blood Child’ by Octavia Butler,” school board member Kristen Zihmer said. “I understand why it’s a question whether it’s appropriate for high schoolers. It’s a science fiction collection, complete with aliens, bugs, and unsettling scenarios that explore mature themes with depth and nuance. Like Mr. Whisler said, there are those very mature themes in the book. After reading the book cover-to-cover, I found that once the initial shock of the sci-fi elements settle, each story reveals thoughtful, ethical dilemmas and philosophical questions presented in a way that I felt were both age-appropriate and intellectually engaging.”<\/p>\n Board member Patricia Dorsey said she read parts of the Butler book, and found notes from the author to contain useful information that helped her to understand the text.<\/p>\n “The book offers a rich literary value,” Zihmer said, “enhanced by the author’s note at the end of each of the stories, which provide meaningful insight into the author’s motives and creative process. Like Dr. Dorsey said, I thought that brought huge value to the table.”<\/p>\n Whisler did not ultimately move to reject “Blood Child.”<\/p>\n Now that the book is an approved curricular material, teachers may chose to use any or all of the short stories, Director of Curriculum Steve Wernick said. The book may also be available for projects that allow students to select what they read. Teachers may also decide to not use the book.<\/p>\n “Teachers may choose to use any of them,” Wernick said. “They wouldn’t read the entire book. They would use selected stories based on the literature and the skills that the author possesses or uses within each story that they choose. What was really liked about the book was the author’s notes, behind each story, of why it was written, and the components of it that help the literary understanding of it.”<\/p>\n “Bloodchild,” the short story that lends its name to the collection, won the Nebula award for best novelette in 1984 and the Hugo award for best novelette in 1985. Hugo and Nebula awards are considered to be among the most prestigious awards for works of science fiction.<\/p>\n Parents receive syllabi informing them of what students will be reading, which gives them an opportunity to object to their child being exposed to a text, Board of Education President Tara Battaglia said.<\/p>\n “This isn’t any banning or approving or denying of materials,” Battaglia said. “This is curriculum that is used in our classrooms. I hope the community understands that, so that there’s not misinformation out there.”<\/p>\n\n The Curriculum Council is composed of parents of students who attend each school, high school students, a representative of the Carroll County Education Association, school principals or assistant principals, interested citizens, and school board member Dorsey. Zihmer serves as the alternate board member on the council.<\/a><\/p>\n The approval process for curricular and instructional materials is separate from the approval and reconsideration processes used for school library books \u2014\u00a061 books were reconsidered and 26 were removed from school library shelves, mostly during the 2023-2024 school year<\/a>. <\/p>\n Century High School performed the play, \u201cThe Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time,\u201d in November 2022.<\/a> The council voted 11-14 against approving the novel for classroom use.<\/p>\n A full list of newly approved and rejected curricular materials can be found online in the school board’s June meeting agenda.<\/a><\/p>\n Have a news tip? Contact Thomas Goodwin Smith at thsmith@baltsun.com.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Carroll County’s school board followed recommendations from its Curriculum Council in rejecting four books from high school English classroooms and including 47 others slated for a variety of grade levels and topic areas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":99999,"featured_media":11043938,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"apple_news_api_created_at":"2025-06-13T19:58:03Z","apple_news_api_id":"0c391c7d-5eeb-492c-8b07-804f73168171","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2025-06-13T19:58:03Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/ADDkcfV7rSSyLB4BPcxaBcQ","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"middle","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"subheadline":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[75,78,80,76,87,85],"tags":[24315],"feature":[],"location":[301,223],"type-of-work":[],"coauthors":[487],"class_list":["post-11501537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-carroll-county-times","category-cct-education","category-cct-latest-headlines","category-cct-news","category-education","category-news","tag-carroll-county-schools","location-carroll-county","location-maryland"],"post_status":"","edit_last":0,"edit_lock":0,"highlights":"","original_byline":"","original_canonical":"","original_category":"","original_email":"","original_id":0,"original_pubdate":"","original_source":"","primary_section":"75","primary_tag":24315,"print_workflow_body":{"deck_headline":"","print_title":"Carroll school board excludes 4 books from high school English lessons","print_subheadline":"","print_priority":"","print_placement":"cover","print_planned_ready":"","print_pub_date":"","print_slug":"CCT-L-CURRICULUMBOOKS-0612","print_budget_line":"","print_excerpt":"Carroll County's school board followed recommendations from its Curriculum Council in rejecting four books from high school English classroooms and including 47 others slated for a variety of grade levels and topic areas.","print_notes":"","photo_limits":"Photo limits are: 1 featured image, 5 featured gallery images, 5 embedded gallery images and 5 in-article embedded images. Articles that exceed these limits will not export. Please adjust images to reflect these limits.","print_featured_gallery_richtext":"","print_inline_galleries_richtext":"","print_inline_images_richtext":"","print_content":" Four books including \"The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time\" by Mark Haddon, \"Future Home of the Living God,\" by Louise Erdrich, \"Specimen Days,\" by Michael Cunningham, and \"The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox,\" by Maggie O'Farrell, will be excluded from Carroll County high school English classroom lessons, following a school board decision this week.<\/p> The school board followed recommendations from its Curriculum Council in rejecting the four books, and including 47 others slated for a variety of grade levels and topic areas.<\/p> Books and other materials for classroom lessons are chosen by instructional supervisors and are then vetted by the Curriculum Council to ensure they meet community standards for language and appropriateness, among other standards<\/a>.<\/p> The vote to exclude the four books and include the 47 others was approved 4-0-1. Board member Greg Malveaux abstained, saying he did not have sufficient time to review the materials, which were presented to the school board in March.<\/a><\/p> A book which did get approved for use in 10th grade English classrooms, \"Bloodchild,\" a collection of science fiction short stories by celebrated author Octavia Butler, caught the attention of one board member, who called its literary merits into question.<\/p> \"I appreciate the committee's recommendation to pull some of these books,\" Board of Education Vice President Steve Whisler said, \"and I endorse that. made the list, but they did.\"]\"<\/p> Whisler said he found descriptions of a birthing process, physical sexual assault, and psychological sexual assault in \"Bloodchild\" to be troubling, though not in violation of the board's policy banning graphic and explicit content. The book's publisher recommends children receive parental permission before reading the book, he added.<\/p> \"I was little troubled with... 'Blood Child,'\" Whisler said. \"I actually read it, and [it's] a real weird book: alien domination, surrogacy, and impregnating humans. It's just really strange. ... I struggled on whether or not we should remove that one.\"<\/p> In January 2024, Whisler introduced a motion to ban all books deemed \"sexually explicit\" from the school system<\/a>, which the school board unanimously passed<\/a>.<\/p> Two members of the Curriculum Council voted against including \"Bloodchild,\" in lessons, while 25 members voted in favor of the book.<\/p> \"I completely understand why Mr. Whisler brought up the appropriateness of the book 'Blood Child' by Octavia Butler,\" school board member Kristen Zihmer said. \"I understand why it's a question whether it's appropriate for high schoolers. It's a science fiction collection, complete with aliens, bugs, and unsettling scenarios that explore mature themes with depth and nuance. Like Mr. Whisler said, there are those very mature themes in the book. After reading the book cover-to-cover, I found that once the initial shock of the sci-fi elements settle, each story reveals thoughtful, ethical dilemmas and philosophical questions presented in a way that I felt were both age-appropriate and intellectually engaging.\"<\/p> Board member Patricia Dorsey said she read parts of the Butler book, and found notes from the author to contain useful information that helped her to understand the text.<\/p> \"The book offers a rich literary value,\" Zihmer said, \"enhanced by the author's note at the end of each of the stories, which provide meaningful insight into the author's motives and creative process. Like Dr. Dorsey said, I thought that brought huge value to the table.\"<\/p> Whisler did not ultimately move to reject \"Blood Child.\"<\/p> Now that the book is an approved curricular material, teachers may chose to use any or all of the short stories, Director of Curriculum Steve Wernick said. The book may also be available for projects that allow students to select what they read. Teachers may also decide to not use the book.<\/p> \"Teachers may choose to use any of them,\" Wernick said. \"They wouldn't read the entire book. They would use selected stories based on the literature and the skills that the author possesses or uses within each story that they choose. What was really liked about the book was the author's notes, behind each story, of why it was written, and the components of it that help the literary understanding of it.\"<\/p> \"Bloodchild,\" the short story that lends its name to the collection, won the Nebula award for best novelette in 1984 and the Hugo award for best novelette in 1985. Hugo and Nebula awards are considered to be among the most prestigious awards for works of science fiction.<\/p> Parents receive syllabi informing them of what students will be reading, which gives them an opportunity to object to their child being exposed to a text, Board of Education President Tara Battaglia said.<\/p> \"This isn't any banning or approving or denying of materials,\" Battaglia said. \"This is curriculum that is used in our classrooms. I hope the community understands that, so that there's not misinformation out there.\"<\/p> The Curriculum Council is composed of parents of students who attend each school, high school students, a representative of the Carroll County Education Association, school principals or assistant principals, interested citizens, and school board member Dorsey. Zihmer serves as the alternate board member on the council.<\/a><\/p> The approval process for curricular and instructional materials is separate from the approval and reconsideration processes used for school library books \u2014\u00a061 books were reconsidered and 26 were removed from school library shelves, mostly during the 2023-2024 school year<\/a>.<\/p>
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