Lyme school board race brings national censorship debate to the forefront
Oct. 29—LYME — Against the backdrop of a controversy pitting book banning against pornography, the town's one open seat on the Region 18 Board of Education has emerged as the only contested race on the ballot.
There are five Republicans, three Democrats and one unaffiliated member on the school board with staggered, four-year terms. Lyme gets two seats on the regional board; the other held by Democrat Anna James is up in 2025.
Six candidates are vying for the three Old Lyme seats. They are Democrats Alexander Lowry, W. Scott Brown and Susan Fogliano and Republicans Suzanne Thompson, Michael Presti and Steven Wilson.
The Lyme race pits newcomer Gavin Lodge, a Democrat, against incumbent Republican Mary Powell-St. Louis.
Lodge said in an interview that he was compelled to run for the school board after he watched a group of community members attempt to strip two sex education books from the young adult section of the neighboring Old Lyme Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library.
The COVID-era New York City transplant said he wants to ensure all students have access to a full education, including books that allow them to explore diverse interests.
Lodge described the library controversy that played out earlier this year as a manifestation of the national culture war being waged on battlegrounds including Florida and Texas, where "parents' rights" have become a rallying cry for conservatives pushing for more oversight of schools.
The American Library Association cited a 38% increase in censorship attempts over the previous year that mostly affected books by or about members of the LGBTQ+ community and people of color.
The association said material in school libraries or curriculum accounted for 58% of the censorship attempts.
As evidence that those "outside ideas are creeping in," he cited the petition signed this summer by 135 people from Lyme and Old Lyme who said the books show an increasing focus on sex and sexual identity in the library's young adult collection. The petition specifically called out "Let's Talk About It: The Teen's Guide to Sex, Relationships, and Being a Human" and asked for a review of the entire young adult collection to ensure no similar books remain.
The book includes sections on masturbation, oral and anal sex, and how to "research fantasies and kinks" safely on the internet.
The request for a review was met with a petition from more than 400 people, including Lodge, expressing support for the library and its collection. The Old Lyme Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library Board of Trustees in July voted to keep the books on the shelves.
"I think censorship and any notion of book banning is absolutely un-American," Lodge said.
Region 18 Superintendent of Schools Ian Neviaser said "Let's Talk About It" is not part of the district's collection, nor is another challenged book targeted at middle school students.
Incumbent Republican Mary Powell-St. Louis, who signed the petition in opposition to the books, said her goal was to get the library's board of trustees to review the request as outlined in its policies.
"It was brought to the attention of the library board, there was a private meeting of the library board, and I respect the decisions of the library board," she said. "But as an individual, I don't agree with it."
A research physician at Pfizer Inc. with master's degrees in public health and business administration, Powell-St. Louis objected to sections in "Let's Talk About It" she said encouraged children to view pornography and downplayed sexually transmitted diseases.
"I'm not saying the book itself is pornography," she said. "My problem with the book is it is recommending its readers to seek out pornography and pay for access to pornography sites to expand their sexual knowledge."
Powell-St. Louis, 57, is married with three sons raised in the Lyme-Old Lyme school system.
Lodge, 48, lives with his partner and has two children in the school system. He serves as the executive director of the national arts advocacy group 4A Arts, where he landed after a 20-year career on stage and screen in New York City.
Describing himself as a voice for students who aren't typically heard, he said it's critical for all students to be able to find books relevant to their situation and interests so they can "explore and figure out their best selves."
Pressing issues
Powell-St. Louis said one of the most pressing issues is making sure the $57.5 million schools' renovation project approved by voters a year ago stays within budget. She serves as vice chairwoman of the Building Committee.
She predicted some "tough decisions" that will have to be made amid inflation and supply chain issues, such as choosing between oil heating or the more carbon-friendly propane and electric hybrid system.
Lodge said his number one priority is keeping politics out of the school board so teachers, staff and students can focus on teaching and learning.
"Parents are bringing politics into an area that doesn't need to be political. Boards of Ed should be about education and putting kids first," he said.
Old Lyme resident Emerson Colwell at this month's school board meeting called on all current and potential school board members to do their research on "Let's Talk About It." He noted that people who signed the petition in support of the books included Martha Shoemaker, a first selectman candidate currently on the Board of Education, and school board member Jason Kemp.
"I would kindly ask all of you to reevaluate your choice to support pornography and publicly denounce the petition, or choose to remove yourself from the (board) because you demonstrated that you are unfit to vote on policies that protect our youth and educational curriculum," he said.
Powell-St. Louis during the same meeting discussed her attendance, along with chairman Steven Wilson, at a recent Guilford Board of Education meeting during which members voted unanimously to keep five books that had been challenged by a community member.
Wilson, who was critical of the lack of dissent at the Guilford meeting, asked members of his board to speak up when their opinions differ from the majority.
Powell-St. Louis in an interview said dealing with calls to remove books from the school system are a matter of policy, not politics. Existing policies allow parents to shield their children from instruction they find objectionable and spells out a process for protesting specific books or instructional material. Only when a parent is not satisfied with a school administrator's review of the material would the issue come before the school board.
She did not recall a book challenge rising to the school board level during her two terms, but she said she would expect an "open, civil" discussion on the material if it comes up in the future.
"I have an individual vote on the board, but the board when they vote speak as a unit," she said. "So my own individual philosophical opinion doesn't matter when we vote as a whole."
