BROOKFIELD, Wis. — The Elmbrook School Board has rejected a motion to remove books from a high school English class. The books in question were “The Kite Runner” and “The Handmaid’s Tale.” Those books will remain in the classroom after a very close vote.

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The decision was made on Tuesday evening by four votes to three and was received with applause from the audience.

Prior to that vote, more than a dozen community members spoke out against the book’s removal. Kevin Matthews, a father of four, attended several meetings to speak out against the proposal.

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“The reality is that books are a proxy for educators because our educators (and) our teachers are developing this curriculum. They say as professionals that these are books that they want to recommend and teach, and our school boards are reaching too far and saying, ‘As non-educators, I don’t like what you’re doing, so I want to impose my will in your classroom,'” Matthews said.

Sam Hughes, a school board member and one of those calling for the books to be removed, said he has nothing against teachers, just a problem with these two books.

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“We agree with and implement 99.9 percent of the things that are presented to the board,” Hughes said.

However, when he continued to explain that this was not a political decision, the crowd began to interrupt him.

“It’s funny that the laughter is related to the fact that it’s a political thing. It’s about my relationship with my Savior and God, who dictates my morals, and my relationship with Him obligates me to make sure that we don’t provide obscene material to children. These are children.”

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Superintendent Mark Hansen argued that the books are for Advanced Placement (AP) English, an optional college course. The books have been taught for more than a decade by teachers who know how to teach sensitive topics. In addition, parents are familiar with the books and can make the right choices for their own students.

“Trust our teachers to teach you, trust our parents to educate their children, trust our students to learn,” Hansen said.

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He also called the proposal a “slippery slope” because interfering with teachers’ curriculum could make it harder for the district to find and retain good teachers.

You can watch the entire board meeting here.

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