Concerned parents and taxpayers read excerpts of sexually-explicit books to members of the Brainerd school board last week, leaving some members of the board visibly uncomfortable.
“It’s verbal porn,” a grandmother of three students said.
Each of the seven presenters during the public comment portion of the meeting expressed their outrage over the availability of sexually-explicit materials in a library meant for 5th-8th grade students.
One speaker, who began his speech with a short prayer, argued that the same sexually-explicit material would be “illegal anywhere else.”
“No child benefits from having sexually-explicit material in the school district libraries. The public education system is once again deceiving its stakeholders,” he said.
Two presenters read from the book “What Girls Are Made Of” by Elana K. Arnold.
“Oh my God,” one of the school board members, D.J. Dondelinger, could be heard exclaiming under his breath while a retired teacher, Sherry Weltze, read pages from the book in question. The board member also placed his head in his hands during portions of the reading, looking visibly uncomfortable.
The excerpts she read detailed a girl’s sexual encounters with her boyfriend. The book graphically describes oral sex, saying if the girl is on her period, then she suggests that she “give him head.”
EXPLICIT: A former Crow Wing County teacher reads from a book available to middle-school students. “Oh my God,” one school board member whispers under his breath. pic.twitter.com/zq1KeN6S1Y
— Alpha News (@AlphaNewsMN) June 19, 2023
“I laid a towel on the sheet in case I bled, and then I watch Seth roll the condom over his penis,” the book reads. “I watched him maneuver his latex-wrapped erection as he pushed and tried to get inside.”
“You’re on notice to remove all sexually-explicit materials from the school district libraries and classrooms,” another speaker told the board.
When Kevin Boyles, the board chair, attempted to move on from the public comment without addressing the concerns, Dondelinger told him to “hold on a second.”
He told Boyles that he would like to make a motion to discuss the book at the next board meeting.
“Something needs to be done,” Dondelinger said. “I’m shocked. We need to dig in and find out what the hell’s going on.”
He then proceeded to ask if “this stuff is accessible to fifth graders” and was told by the room of concerned citizens that yes, it was.
Boyles said that they would address the topic at the board’s retreat that took place on June 16, saying that he didn’t think a board meeting was the appropriate venue for a discussion about it initially. “I think it’s fair to say that several of us have questions,” he said.
Dondelinger pushed back, asking for a second to his motion to add the books to the agenda for the next school board meeting, to the applause of the audience.
The next regular school board meeting is scheduled for July 10.
Hayley Feland
Hayley Feland previously worked as a journalist with The Minnesota Sun, The Wisconsin Daily Star, and The College Fix. She is a Minnesota native with a passion for politics and journalism.
