ATLANTA — The board of education for Marietta City Schools banned 23 books from the media center of Marietta High School on Tuesday night.
The lone dissenting vote against the ban came from board member A.B. Almy.
"I totally respect their opinions and where they come from, and I love working with them," Almy said. "I just want every person in our district to know that they are cared about and they are heard, and I want them to feel like they can read a book, their child can read books that they feel comfortable with and that their opinion matters."
Marietta City Schools was undergoing a review of all 20,000 books in its libraries and media centers for books that might contain "sexually explicit" content, after the school board passed a directive in September outlining the review.
"This was not intended to be a book ban," board chairwoman Kerry Minervini said at the time. "...We're trying to get people to coalesce around getting together and having these discussions so that we can come up with the most appropriate definitions and the most appropriate ways to protect our children from things that people don't want them to see."
Kayla Sergeant, a Marietta parent who objected to the removal of "Flamer," said she feels many of the books on the list that officials voted on are beneficial in teaching students lessons about life.
“I think we’re smart enough to decide what our kids read or not," Sergeant said.
Jenny Storino, a parent to two in the district, agreed, saying she's frustrated.
“When kids read these books, they get more involved in their community and understand the world they live in better and find themselves in safe space in the pages behind a book," Storino added.
Marietta Schools superintendent Dr. Grant Rivera said that reviewing more than 20,000 books has been one of the most difficult tasks he's undergone in his career.
“I serve almost 9,000 students as superintendent, but I also serve two girls as their father," Rivera explained. "So, when I conducted this review – it was important for me to understand what the standards are for our media center, but also what do I have peace about as a father of two elementary-aged daughters in Marietta city schools."
Other board members who voted in favor of removing the 23 books, like Jason Waters, said it was important to note these books aren't "banned."
"We still have 20,000-plus books. We'll be buying more books. And we're not saying a ban says you can't read these books. We're not saying that," Waters said. "We're saying we're not providing them in a taxpayer-funded K-12 school."
Families have until Jan. 11 to appeal any of the books that were voted on.