North Texas school district book-ban candidates

It feels like Super Tuesday was just last Tuesday, but here we are, facing yet another election day in North Texas. Perhaps the biggest election headlines in Dallas over the past few weeks have involved the $1.25 billion bond package, and for good reason. The bond money is set to go towards streets and transportation, parks, public safety, economic development and more — all topics of interest to the public. But what about the many other items on the ballots across North Texas? There are plenty of school board positions up for grabs, including ones in districts where book banning has been a prevalent debate topic.

Here’s a look at some of the contested North Texas school board races where the subject matter and availability of school library books are prominent topics. Place 3: Larry Mike, Kathi Arocha, April Williams Moore. Strong’s Guide reports that Arocha is a member of social media accounts for groups, including Citizens Defending Freedom, that are pro-book censorship. The report also highlights some of her personal social media posts that articulate what she considers inappropriate for schools, which happen to often be found inside of current library books. Place 1: Barbara Burns, Debbie Scaggs; Place 2: Sheryl English, Terry A. Senne. Scaggs has “taken on the mantle of Denton ISD’s book-banner-in-chief, leading the charge against more than 100 books,” Strong writes in the Guide. Books that Scaggs has challenged include Jacob’s New Dress and Jacob’s Room to Choose, a pair of books that Strong notes were retained by the district, at least in part, due to neither book having sexual content. Place 1: Cynthia Rial Graham, Shannon Braun; Place 2: Dalia Begin, Michael Alfred. There aren’t many school districts in Texas where the topic of library books and censorship is as hot as in the Grapevine-Colleyville ISD. Check out the NBC News investigative podcast Grapevine for plenty of insight into how that came to be. Strong’s research says that current board president Braun has long aligned herself with Patriot Mobile and has vocally fought what she says is “social indoctrination” and “racial and sexual identity politics” in classrooms.