Educating students, curriculum , and parent engagement has stirred up a lot of controversy across the country. While education seems to be something that does not involve or require parent involvement or engagement , it turns out that more and more today, parents are involved heavily in their children’s education and decisions made in the classroom —that goes way beyond just checking in on their student’s progress.
Since the Covid-19 pandemic hit, many students have been learning remotely.
When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, many schools changed from in-person learning to fully remote learning. And, while cases are on the decline in many cities across the country, there are schools still offering and operating on a remote learning platform. In addition, some schools have learned to take advantage of using platforms like Google Meet and Zoom to connect with families and students outside of the classroom.
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These platforms have many advantages.
Using these platforms can be very beneficial for students who cannot report to school for whatever reason or case, but they also open the door to a lot of controversy and issues. When teaching students in this way, parents now have an open door into the classroom and everything that goes on.
Recently, one assistant principal learned the hard way when he was fired from his position due to reading a book over Zoom to students.
Toby Price, former assistant principal of Gary Road Elementary in Mississippi logged onto Zoom to read a book to a second-grade class. The book choice, however, ended up costing him his job. The book in question is actually an extremely popular children’s book currently called, ” I Need a New Butt.”
The book is a humorous children’s story about a boy noticing his butt for the first time.
The story, written by Dawn McMillan and illustrated by Ross Kinnaird, is targeted at children ages 4 to 10, which 2nd-grade students fit right into. The story focuses on a boy who notices the “crack in his butt” for the very first time and believes it to be “broken,” so he sets out to find a replacement butt.
And, the kids loved it.
“You could see the smiles on their faces and afterwards, you know, they were coming up to me and telling me, ‘Hey, Mr. Price. The book was really funny. Thank you for reading it to us,'” he shared . However, Price was called into the school’s superintendent’s office where he was asked to resign over his book choice.
In the school’s termination letter, Hinds County Schools Superintendent Delesicia Martin said the book was a “poor choice.”
In the letter, which was shared by a public petition to reinstate Price in his position, the district states that Price “failed to provide an environment that does not needlessly expose students to unnecessary embarrassment.” The letter also said that the book was “inappropriate” and that Price showed a “lack of professionalism.”
However, Price and his wife decided to fight back.
“I called my wife, and my wife told me, ‘You know, if you sign that resignation, it’s almost like you’re walking away saying that they were right and you were wrong. And you weren’t wrong,'” he said . He decided instead of resigning, he was going to stand up for himself and his job.
In addition, Price says he stands by his book choice and “would do it again.”
“I know my audience, you know, second-grade reluctant reader. You’ve got to show them that books can be fun and silly and engaging. You know, you want them to put down their phone and pick up a book,” he stated .
In addition, Price said he had not heard or known of any complaints from parents.
A petition is going around, as well, to help Price get his job back.
The petition shared on Pen.org mentions that by terminating Price for the book, it opens the door to further censorship of literature and books inside schools and classrooms.
“Such a precedent could be readily abused, enforced with unbridled discretion to censor the reading of books in schools,” the petition reads.
Price is now left with fear and worry about how to support his family.
Fighting for his job back, Price is now left in “a hard place” while he tries to figure out how to support his family, his wife, and their three children.
“This is not just a road bump for us. This is, you know, two flat tires and we’re stuck on the side of the road,” he shared.
I hope it all works out for him!
