BUXTON, Maine — MSAD 6 Superintendent Clay Gleason said it's been a few months since he's seen a coordinated effort to remove books from school libraries.
The last time MSAD 6 was at the center of debates surrounding sexual content, it was over the books "It's Perfectly Normal" and "Gender Queer: A Memoir." Both books were kept in the library.
But the school board voted in majority to suspend the normal rules at the April 3 meeting to allow books to be pulled from the library while they are reviewed.
Normally, books are reviewed while still in the library.
"It was definitely a different process," Superintendent Gleason said. "That put me in some unknown ground and now I have to work through that process."
Gleason said the school board directed him to remove the books after voting in majority.
School Board Chair and Maine State Representative Nathan Carlow said the vulgar language presented by community members moved them to suspend the rules.
"The Board wholeheartedly supports the inclusion of academic materials that promote our school system’s reputation for excellence, and the District must also routinely assess the age appropriateness of content available at school to ensure they contribute to the MSAD 6 curriculum," Carlow said in an email.
But the suspension of rules came in bad taste, according to the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance Executive Director Gibson Fay-Leblanc.
"It seems like they are not following their own process," Fay-Leblanc said. "We have a small group of parents wanting to make the decision for everyone."
There is also the fact that community members calling for the removal of the books are not all involved with the district.
One community member, Vickie Shane, quoted a book she said is in the library.
"I do not want my granddaughter pulling out this book," Shane said.
Shane is not a parent in the district. Shane ran for school board in 2022 and lost. She then changed her Facebook page for election, into a parent Facebook page lobbying for parents to attend school board meetings.
The attempts to remove material last year also came with Shane's Facebook group and another right-wing influencer calling on followers to reach out to parents and school employees who support the books that were challenged.
Superintendent Gleason said this led to harassment of employees.
"The personal attacks have come along with this... I understand there is passion, but direct the passion at the institution. It's become a really hard situation with people that are just not feeling safe," Gleason said.
Fay-Leblanc said the suspension of rules to remove the books during review limits the material children have.
"These are the kinds of books that kids who are questioning their sexual identity need to read because it helps them figure things out," he said.
Superintendent Gleason said some of the books people asked to be removed do not exist. He said the ones that do will be placed in the middle and high school principal's office pending review, which could take some time.
"I don't have the time personally to take eight books and give them the time they need. I frankly have to step back and think about what kind of process they need, so it's not just reaction," Gleason said.
MSAD 6 has a school board meeting Monday night, where the district expects to hear more public comment.