Monroe County Republicans send alert regarding N-O-W Schools

The Monroe County Republican Party sent out an alert to its members on July 20, contending that the books “Me and White Supremacy” and “This Book is Gay” were available to staff and students in the Norwalk-Ontario-Wilton School District. 

But Superintendent Travis Anderson told the County Line last week that neither title is available in print or as an e-book at N-O-W.

Rogalla told the County Line last week that that two books were available both in the Sparta and the Norwalk-Ontario-Wilton school districts via Sora, an app designed for K–12 students that provides online access to ebooks and audiobooks. It is part of Overdrive, a platform that also hosts Libby, an online library used by local public libraries. 

But according to Anderson, although N-O-W is listed as a participating school district on the app’s website, the district had never activated its Sora subscription and students do not have accounts with the service. 

Instead, N-O-W uses Audible, an online audiobook and podcast service available through Amazon, which students may use if they cannot find their requested titles in either the school library or other local libraries. Staff must approve each student’s download from Audible, Anderson said. 

As part of the Monroe County Republican Party alert, Rogalla also noted that critical race theory was on the agenda. The public comments section at the July 20 meeting focused exclusively on critical race theory. Most attendees were opposed to teaching of the academic framework, which the N-O-W School Board said was not a part of curriculum. 

The July 20 Monroe County Republican Party alert stated, “Recently, we discovered materials such as ‘Me and White Supremacy’ and ‘This Book is Gay’ are among selections available to teachers and students. We believe that leftist ideology is tearing this country apart. Instead of celebrating progress, they seem to think turning this country into a socialist hellhole is the better course of action.”

The alert concluded with a suggestion that parents and grandparents in the N-O-W School District attend the July 20 board meeting. 

Rogalla wrote in an email to the County Line last week, “We just want our kids and grandkids not to be introduced to concepts and theories that are potentially harmful to them.”

“This Book is Gay,” by Juno Dawson, is a young-adult nonfiction title focusing on sexuality and gender. Its publisher describes it as an “instruction manual” for youth coming out as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or trans.

Layla Saad’s “Me and White Supremacy” is an antiracism education workbook designed to show how systemic racism works. 

Also, Rogalla noted that Cooperative Educational Service Agency (CESA) 4 had a course entitled “Me and White Supremacy” on its website, adding that he had “confronted the CESA 4 administrator, who apologized and removed the item the next day.”

CESA 4 did not respond to the County Line’s requests for comments. 

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