Protesters stop Mpls. school board meeting over 'racist' books

A Minneapolis school board meeting on a property tax levy came to an early end Tuesday evening after a group of protesters, angry about Minneapolis Public Schools' contract with Utah-based Reading Horizons, disrupted the meeting.

The protesters were demanding the school district end its contract with Reading Horizons, a company that provided new reading curriculum in late July intended for kindergarten through third grade.

The $1.2 million curriculum included supplemental material called "Little Books" that contained racist and cultural stereotypes. In early August, Reading Horizons held a training for about 200 teachers and distributed a set of 54 books, according to Dirk Tedmon, communications specialist for Minneapolis Public Schools.

The books were not thoroughly vetted before the purchase was made, he said. They were recalled prior to going to classrooms.

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Some of those teachers who attended a literacy training program complained to the district and contacted Sarah Lahm, an independent journalist who writes about education.

Lahm, wrote an article about her interview with the teachers and posted images of the books, including one called "Nieko, the Hunting Girl," and "Lazy Lucy" a 6-year-old girl in an unidentified country in Africa.

After some of the board members left the meeting room, Minneapolis school board member Rebecca Gagnon and two other members, talked with the protesters.

Gagnon said the district was asked to terminate its contract with Reading Horizons. Protesters also asked for an apology from Interim Superintendent Michael Goar.

Gagnon said the school board approved a phonics curriculum, but they were not told what those books would contain. The school board did not discover the offensive material in the "Little Books" until some teachers raised concerns.

"There's nothing we can do except pull out of this company," Gagnon said. "It's clear that the community is hurt and going to be persistent."

Chaun Webster has two children in the school district. Webster, the co-owner of Ancestry Books, said "he was appalled" when teachers showed him the books.

"There's no place for these kind of books and talking about teaching kids how to read," he said.

When the book controversy issue came to light, Webster and two teachers sent a letter to the district.

"Reading Horizons has shown that they do not possess necessary cultural competencies and that having them redesign this curriculum would only produce similar results" they wrote in their letter, which was signed by hundreds of community members and organizations.

The school board will again meet on Oct. 13, where Reading Horizons President and CEO Tyson Smith is expected to attend and offer a public apology, according to district officials.

Correction (Oct. 2, 2015): The original version of this story was unclear on the way that books were distributed. They were distributed as a set of 54. It was also unclear on Chaun Webster's role. Webster is co-owner of Ancestry Books. The original version also incorrectly noted that Webster worked with two Minneapolis teachers. Only one of those teachers was from Minneapolis Public Schools. The story has been updated.