Book Banning in Lewis County Schools Possibly Averted

The Centralia school board met last Thursday on 11/14/24, 9 members of the community in person and 2 submitted comments by email. Those 11 community members spoke out against banning the book Poet X. One member from Bethel Church made a comment in favor of banning the book Poet X. Lewis county commissioner Sean Swope was not present at the meeting.

Book Banning in Lewis County Schools

Sean Swope, Lewis County Washington county commissioner, is trying to get the Centralia School Board to ban books. He urged his followers in a show of force to attend the school board meeting on his Facebook page. His homeschooled religious followers should keep their hands off public schools. The school board meets Thursday 11/14/24 at 5pm for in person or online. Click the link to attend online Centralia School Board Meeting . Please attend to voice your opposition to book banning. To submit a comment to the board click the link Comment

The book in question is Poet X Novel by Elizabeth Acevedo. Winner of the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, the Michael L. Printz Award.

The book is about coming of age. Xiomara known as "X" works through tensions and conflicts with her family. by writing poetry. It is in the Banned Book Project of Carnegie Mellon University. In North Carolina parents insisted that The Poet X was anti- Christian and violated their right to freedom of religion. The case was dismissed on grounds that education is not indoctrination.