A Menomonee Falls community group is calling on the Menomonee Falls School Board to adopt a policy to allow for library materials that were previously banned, removed or restricted to be reconsidered for use in the district.
Grassroots Menomonee Falls Area said in a June 7 news release that the policy would provide parents, students, teachers and community members “a clear, documented pathway” for doing so. The group said while the district has a process for challenging library materials, there is no process to request reconsideration of prior decisions to ban, remove or restrict them.
“Right now, when a book is removed from a school library in Menomonee Falls, there is no formal way for community members to ask that the decision be reconsidered. That gap is unacceptable, and it is time for the school board to fix it,” said Grassroots Menomonee Falls Area co-leader Andy Guss in the news release.
The group also called for people to attend the Menomonee Falls School Board’s June 8 meeting and speak in favor of the proposed policy during the meeting’s public comment portion.
At the meeting, most of the people who spoke advocated for books the district had previously removed to be reinstated. One of those speakers was Guss, who formally presented the proposed policy to the board.
In 2023, the Menomonee Falls School District removed 33 books from Menomonee Falls High School claiming they violated district policies about sexual content and profanity.
In July 2024, after receiving a complaint from parents Katrina and Paul Moldenhauer, the Menomonee Falls School Board voted to remove the book “Love Makes A Family” by Sophie Beer, which depicts different family structures, including same-sex parents, from being used as supplemental materials for 4K classrooms at Shady Lane Elementary School.
After the district refused to hear their appeal of the board’s decision on “Love Makes A Family,” parents Michelle and Jesse Cramer filed a complaint later that year with the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. It took until this May for the DPI to issue a decision, which was that no discrimination took place but that the district would have to find a different resource to evaluate books, saying the district was using a biased resource.
Jesse Cramer is now the Menomonee Falls School Board’s president. He was first elected to the board in 2025 and became the board president in April.
What does the proposed policy say?
A draft of the proposed policy emailed to a reporter says anyone could file a petition for reconsideration, including parents or guardians of district students; district students age 14 or older; district employees, including classroom teachers, library media specialists and administrators; community members residing in district boundaries and licensed teachers or curriculum specialists affiliated with the district.
The policy would limit reconsideration requests to one per material per calendar year by the same complainant. Duplicate requests would be consolidated and reviewed jointly, the proposed policy says.
The proposal also calls for creation of a nine-member Library Materials Review Committee consisting of:
Each committee member would serve two-year staggered terms, and the superintendent would appoint replacements for vacant positions. The proposed policy says no committee member would be allowed to review materials if that member has a personal or professional conflict of interest related to the material.
When it comes to voting, a quorum would be five voting members deciding on materials by a simple majority vote of members present and voting, with the committee chair only voting when there’s a tie.
In part, the policy also lays out the process for filing a reconsideration request and reviewing them, the core principles for the committee’s decision-making, what the potential outcomes are and how decisions can be appealed.
What does the process for filing a reconsideration request look like?
Anyone seeking to file such a request would have to complete a form and submit it to the building principal of the school where the material was originally decided upon or to the director of curriculum and instruction for districtwide actions, according to the proposal.
The form must identify the material, whether it was removed, banned, restricted or quarantined, meaning being temporary removed pending the review or resolution of a complaint; reasons for requesting reconsideration, the desired outcome the person filing the request wants and their signature, contact information and date of submission.
Within 10 business days, the director of curriculum and instruction should acknowledge receipt of the request in writing; assign a case number for tracking purposes; obtain a copy of or access to the material under review, if available; retrieve and compile the record of the prior action, which includes prior review documentation, board minutes and written communications, the proposed policy said.
The committee should meet to review such requests within 45 calendar days of the request being submitted. It should:
The committee could decide on one of five outcomes:
The committee should issue a written decision within 60 days of receiving the request stating its decision, rationale, any conditions related to reinstatement and the complainant’s right to appeal.
What are the core principles decisions will be guided upon?
The proposed policy lists these as core principles for the committee’s decision making:
Can a committee’s decision be appealed?
If the requester is unsatisfied with the committee’s decision, they would be able to appeal in writing to the Menomonee Falls School Board within 21 calendar days of receiving the committee’s written decision. Appeals would be limited to procedural error in the review process, material factual error in the committee’s findings or violation of district policy or applicable law and the specific relief sought, the proposed policy said.
Under the policy, the School Board would issue a final decision within 30 days after meeting to hear the appeal. Its decision would not be subject to further administrative review within the district.
What’s next?
The Menomonee Falls School Board did not discuss the proposed policy at the June 8 meeting, as it was not on the meeting’s agenda. However, the board briefly discussed whether the proposed policy would be scheduled to be discussed at a future board meeting; it did not decide on a future date for discussion.
Contact Alec Johnson at 262-875-9469 or alec.johnson@jrn.com. Follow him on X at @AlecJohnson12.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Menomonee Falls community group proposes policy to reinstate books
Reporting by Alec Johnson, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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By Alec Johnson, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | USA TODAY Network
