Whether you liked the decision or not, you have to take your hat off to the way the West Valley school board reached the conclusion it did regarding two controversial books.
It took two meetings worth of discussion, but the board ultimately agreed last month to allow the high school鈥檚 extracurricular book club the option of reading 鈥淒ear Martin鈥 and 鈥淭he Marrow Thieves.鈥 The board attached two stipulations, though: The district must lay out a detailed explanation of the books and parents must opt in before their kids can read the books and take part in discussions about them.
The books, which contain raw language and descriptions of disturbing events, were on a list of proposed materials that a district screening committee reviewed and unanimously approved this spring. The 15-member committee includes school staffers and parents.
Despite that, some on the board had doubts about adopting the committee鈥檚 recommendation, which led to the wider discussion.
To be clear, we鈥檙e the last ones who鈥檇 endorse book censorship, and the board鈥檚 3-2 vote was an indication of the mixed feelings members had. But the process the board followed 鈥 and even more impressively, the measured tone of their deliberations 鈥 set an example for local governance that we wish more elected officials would follow.
Though opinions were sharply divided among board members Steve Wolcott, Haley Larson, Joel Hede, James Kephart and Natalie Shirzad, there were no raised voices, no personal attacks and no denunciations of anybody else鈥檚 morals or beliefs. The full discussion is available on the and is worth a listen.
The back and forth was respectful, reasoned 鈥 refreshing, even. Everyone had their say, and everyone did their best to accommodate views they didn鈥檛 necessarily agree with.
And in the end, the group鈥檚 willingness to listen to and negotiate with the public and one another made way for a compromise that everyone could live with. It made us long for a world where members of Congress, our Legislature, residents of governors鈥 mansions and the White House showed such statesmanship.
We鈥檒l take what we can get, though.
In this case, we applaud West Valley鈥檚 school board for playing it by the book.
