Murray EvansThe Oklahoman
Public records surrendered by the Oklahoma State Department of Education after a delay of more than four months reveal the persistent focus of those working for state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters on the issue of inappropriate school library books and the lengthy involvement of an advisory committee whose membership he's still keeping secret.
The records also give insight to the agency's failed efforts to force Edmond Public Schools to remove from its libraries two books it deemed inappropriate. That attempt resulted in a lawsuit and an Oklahoma Supreme Court opinion that essentially voided a handful of the agency’s administrative rules — pushed by Walters and approved by the State Board of Education ― including one giving the agency the authority to determine what books could be in the libraries of individual school districts. The court ruled that to be a decision reserved to local school boards, not any state agency or board.
Walters announced last year, soon after taking office, that he was setting up a "parent watch" program to review often-anonymous complaints about library books and other concerns, but said nothing about a new advisory committee his agency formed in October to challenge the library selections of districts around the state.
Only on Jan. 27 did Walters disclose the formation of a new “Library Media Advisory Committee,” a panel he said would include Chaya Raichik, the woman behind the conservative “Libs of TikTok” social media account. He declined to identify any other members of what appeared to be a public committee, given its work for a state agency. The state Education Department has said the committee is a volunteer advisory board appointed by Walters and is made up of parents, current or retired librarians, and English literature teachers.
That day, The Oklahoman asked the state Education Department's communications director, Dan Isett, for a list of the committee’s members. He declined to provide it then and on other subsequent occasions when asked.
On Feb. 27, The Oklahoman made a formal request under the Oklahoma Open Records Act, asking for a list of the committee’s current members as well as copies of all communication — such as email, text messages, instant messages and voicemail messages ― between Walters and the committee’s members.
None of that information was included in the agency’s 340-page response to The Oklahoman’s request. What was included were mostly repetitive email strings. In one of those, an emailed letter sent from former agency general counsel Bryan Cleveland to the Edmond district, appeared seven times. Many of the emails were daily reports from the agency’s director of external relations, Matt Oberdick, to Kim Brentlinger, then the administrative assistant for the agency’s former chief of staff, Jenna Thomas.
Brentlinger now serves as the agency’s project manager for teacher recognition, while Thomas and Cleveland both resigned from the agency in March, part of an exodus of more than 130 employees since Walters took office in January 2023.
The agency’s response included no emails or other communication from Walters, his chief adviser, Matt Langston, or Isett, all of whom would likely have had input into the formation of the advisory committee. It also didn't include any text messages, which specifically had been requested. Isett didn’t respond to a question from The Oklahoman about the omission of those documents.
First emails mentioning library committee came in early October
In the records provided, the first mention of the advisory committee came in an Oct. 5 email from Oberdick that included a document describing the committee’s purpose.
In that email, the group was defined as “a specialized committee established to provide guidance and recommendations to the Oklahoma State Board of Education regarding the adherence of books and materials available within Oklahoma public schools” to what the agency called its “Media Program Rule,” essentially established through the administrative rules that have since been voided by the Oklahoma Supreme Court.
“The establishment of the LMAC aims to enhance the Media Program Rule's effectiveness by incorporating committee research and input into the evaluation of books available within Oklahoma public schools,” the document said. “This committee represents a proactive approach towards ensuring the provision of age appropriate, educational content while upholding the State Board of Education's duty to protect minor students from exposure to inappropriate materials.
“By promoting compliance and fostering a culture of responsibility in selecting books and materials, the Oklahoma State Board of Education and the Library-Media Advisory Committee jointly work towards nurturing an environment conducive to academic rigor and the protection of childhood innocence. This collaborative effort aims to shape an educational landscape that facilitates effective learning and upholds the values of academic integrity and a safe, nurturing childhood experience.”
That email also included documents which were sent to parents and school districts touting the new committee. One of them, entitled “Protecting Children in the Learning Environment,” said if the State Board of Education found a district to be in “willful noncompliance,” the board “may alter the school district's accreditation status to ‘Accredited with Warning’ or ‘Accredited with Probation.’”
Several responses from Cleveland and Thomas to Oberdick’s email were redacted in the documents The Oklahoman was sent. In one that was not redacted, Thomas said, “I have reviewed the draft, rubric, etc. Not sure on the banned books list so would like your recommendation — I know we've discussed before. Ryan is aware of the general progress made, but we should run it by him in our next update meeting.”
On Oct. 23, Oberdick and Cleveland conversed about how to make sure concerns reported anonymously via the agency’s Awareity website — through which reports can be submitted about any number of school-related issues ― be passed along to the library committee.
Two days later, Oberdick declared in an email to Brentlinger, in reference to the committee, “Want this to be fully operational by Friday,” which was Oct. 27. But Oberdick also reported some barriers toward that goal: “Roadblocks: waiting for three email addresses, waiting to hear back from Bryan if the first books are ready to review (he said he won't be able to get to this until after board meeting); we need Awareity to get updated to include this as an ‘incident type’, not sure what the hang up is there. Once that's done, we need to promote the process and encourage its use of reporting books.”
Oberdick said in an Oct. 27 email the committee was “(l)aunching today, operational, members will be receiving communication today to start their first two evals.” He added he was “waiting for one email address (we can catch that individual up later), I have two additional nominations that came in a little late. I'm not going to pursue this right away. I want to see how this first eval goes.”
Member of Oklahoma State Board of Education regularly communicated with library committee members
State Board of Education member Kendra Wesson, who leads the State Textbook Committee for the agency, sent an Oct. 30 email, apparently to the committee members, thanking them for their service and instructing them to type in their responses to books they’d been provided on an attached rubric document.
Wesson said the committee’s first two assignments were “The Glass Castle” and “The Kite Runner.” Those two award-winning books, authored by Jeannette Walls and Khaled Hosseini, respectively, were the ones cited as inappropriate in an eventual letter to the Edmond school district.
Wesson sent another email on Nov. 12, also apparently to committee members, that was redacted, although it appeared to have attached to it several pages with what might have been the comments of committee members concerning the two books.
Oberdick said in a Nov. 15 email to Brentlinger that he’d “created a new stock report template that the committee members would use to submit their evaluations — I think it's more clear and more streamlined.” The two-page form offered a place for committee members to present their “Findings Of Fact.” It also had boxes to check yes or no to the questions, “Is The Material p*rnographic” and “Does The Material Contain Excessive Sexual Material In Light Of The Educational Value Of The Material And In Light Of The Youngest Age Of Students With Access To Said Material.”
The form also gave committee members three options of recommendation: to retain, retain with restriction or remove a book from a library. If the second option was chosen, the committee member could list the recommendations for any restrictions.
Wesson emailed committee members again on Nov. 17, asking them to fill out the attached two-page report. “This first part of the process has been about finding a good format for our reporting and I apologize for the extra work as we perfect everything,” Wesson said. “We feel this report gives us a better idea of how the books should be presented to our Board of Education.”
On Dec. 4, Wesson emailed Cleveland, attaching the committee’s reports on the two books. “The attached reports are overview compilations of reports sent in by our Adv Committee on Library books that were turned into Awareity by citizens with complaints on their lack of educational value and possible violations of the OSDE media rules,” she said.
What did the library committee say about the two books?
The report said five complaints had been filed about the books by three parents, who were not identified. The report said, “(T)he books are in all three of Edmond High Schools libraries, There are no restrictions on the books being checked out at the library, So the lowest grade level that has access to this book is 9th grade, it is not kept in a special section and there are no check-out restrictions placed on the book in the main school library, 9th graders are typically 14 to 15 years old.”
Of “The Kite Runner,” the report said, “Book contains explicit, graphic sexual language in describing the violent same sex rape of a 12- year-old boy by a group of boys. The sexual theme carries throughout the book as part of the background leading to the conclusion. This book meets the criteria for p*rnography and contains excessive sexual content. The complexities of Afghanistan's culture and history can be taught to our students without exposing them to explicit, graphic, violent sexual assault. This book describes a rape situation that is traumatic and can deliver secondhand trauma to the reader (are teachers trained to handle secondhand trauma?) Oklahoma's taxpayers should not be expected to fund sexual materials for minors. The book references the following: a child being raped, a child having blood drip down his leg after the rape, and the rape is described throughout the story with more detail with each telling. There is a question about this book having any educational value.”
Of “The Glass Castle,” the report read: “This book has minimal, if any, educational value. The sexual content is explicit and prevalent throughout. There is no reason why any minor school-aged child should read this. The graphic nature of the sexual content is delivering secondhand trauma to the reader. This is a memoir, the author is healing by writing this, but it is not appropriate to deliver the story of her trauma, so graphically, to young minds who cannot comprehend it for its purpose as an adult may be able to. The book has no overriding merits and could easily be replaced by a motivational memoir found at any local bookstore. The book references: a child going into a whor*house, an uncle masturbating while touching a child's leg, a grandmother molesting a young boy, a child showing another child his father's penis, and rape.”
The committee did not rule the books to be p*rnographic ― although Walters has publicly accused the Edmond district of pushing p*rnography ― but made a recommendation to remove them from Edmond libraries.
Cleveland sent an email to Thomas on Dec. 12 that was redacted, but came in response to an email Thomas had sent on Dec. 11 that read, “Ok, Ryan was wondering what the books were. Glass Castle and Kite Runner? Is that right?”
After the committee’s ruling, Cleveland prepared a letter to send to the Edmond school district. Although it was dated Dec. 12, he acknowledged in an after-hours email that day to Thomas it “won’t go out until tomorrow at the earliest.” But it took even longer, as Thomas sent the letter to Langston ― who lives in Texas while having a job with the Oklahoma agency — for review.
The letter eventually received by the district was dated Jan. 19. The next day, the district announced it would sue the state Education Department, the State Board of Education and Walters and asked the Oklahoma Supreme Court to assume original jurisdiction, which the court did. On June 11, the court unanimously ruled in favor of Edmond, saying state statutes give local school boards “power and a type of statutory discretion to supply books for a school library that meet local community standards.”
The court also issued a “writ of prohibition” that prevented the state board from taking action against the district and ordered the state board to “dismiss their enforcement proceeding” reviewing the district’s selection of library books. The board has not yet voted in a public meeting to do so.
Isett did not respond to a question from The Oklahoman regarding the status of the Library Media Advisory Committee, given the administrative rules upon which it was based have been voided.
