G-E-T school ends months-long questions on 'Queer Ducks' book with block vote

The book “Queer Ducks (and Other Animals): The Natural World of Animal Sexuality” will remain in the Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau Middle School library for the 2023-24 school year after months of committee meetings, school board movement and citizen complaints.

A resource review committee on Aug. 3 voted to block the book, which means that students will be able to check out the book unless their parent has filled out a form indicating that they do not want their child to read the book.

“It is in the library, it has not been removed, and it is available to all to check out unless the parent — and we have a form now at registration for parents to easily fill out to accommodate the need now that we know we have parents that want that,” G-E-T Superintendent Michele Butler said.

The book faced three options — block, remove and retain — from the resource review committee, which looked different than the first time the committee met.

The original committee decision in June to “ban” the book from the library faced community backlash and was reached by an illegal anonymous ballot vote, which required the more recent committee reassembly and revote.

The committee had a new chair in district curriculum director Terri Fanta in place of middle school principal Pete Peterson, who stepped down from the position after the original meeting in June.

Other committee members included middle school teacher Melanie Bawek, special education teacher and reading specialist Laura Knutson, community member and middle school parent Melanie Pederson and a new member in Jaci Pankurst, Holmen Middle School’s library media specialist.

District pupil services director Scott Moline directed the meeting.

The latest meeting came one week after G-E-T school board President Larry Moore resigned from the head spot on the board, citing Butler’s handling of the possible book removal.

Fellow board member Paul Kinzer resigned from the board in the aftermath of the original vote.

The committee heard from complainants Sara Olson, Kylee Rostvold, Kayla Repaal and Cathy Hansen on Aug. 3 before G-E-T library media specialist Megan Shaw presented to the committee on book selection process for school libraries.

The meeting also held time for public comments. The Times was not notified of the meeting by the district.

A final vote was based on district Policy Rule 361 on material removal, which includes guidelines on content appropriateness, age level of students, readability, avoiding gender and ethnic bias and stereotyping and other goals, including “a respect for differing viewpoints and controversial subjects with the goal of providing a balanced collection”, according to the meeting script provided to the Times by Butler.

Reaching the block decision took two votes, which were recorded by written ballot accompanied by name.

The first round of votes saw Pankurst and Fanta vote to retain the book, while Bawek and Knutson voted for the block option. Pederson was the lone committee member to vote to remove the book entirely, which eliminated that option from the committee.

In a revote between block and retain, Pederson voted for the block option and all other members kept their previous choice for a 3-2 block decision.

“It was a very calm, a very professional meeting and when people left at the end people were communicating with one another. There was not the intensity or emotion that we saw in the previous meeting at all, which was wonderful,” Butler told the Times.

In an emailed statement last Friday, Butler thanked the committee members, community and parents who participated in the meeting.

“The Committee’s final decision to ‘block’ the book, “Queer Ducks (and Other Animals): The Natural World of Animal Sexuality”, means that the book will still be available for check out in the G-E-T Middle School library unless a parent has designated that their student may not check out this book,” Butler wrote.

“Parents who wish to limit their child’s access to library resources may do so in one of two ways: parents may complete a form that limits their child from accessing books that are labeled ‘Young Adult’ or parents may submit a list of books that are flagged as not available for their child to access.”