Censorship due to book ban cause of concern for Cobb County teachers, media specialists

COBB COUNTY, Ga. - — There’s been a whirlwind of events within the Cobb County School District after Katie Rinderle was fired for reading a book about gender norms, to her fifth graders.

Days later– the district banned two books due to highly inappropriate and sexually explicit content. This morning – a group protested outside of one of the high schools.

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“Policies were not followed, and people are afraid that a new level of censorship is coming in and so they are finding a way to make their voices heard,” says Jeff Hubbard of the Cobb County Association of Teachers.

According to district policy, a parent or guardian must file a complaint about a book, but Libs of Tik Tok – a far right and anti-LGBT social media group – is claiming responsibility.

“People are upset about the fact that a very small minority of people have made such a huge impact on award winning books,” Hubbard said.

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This email between a member of the group and a district official is posted on Libs of TikTok.com.

A district official thanks the group for alerting him about the book and says the books will be removed right away. According to district policy - a number of steps must be followed before books are removed.

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“If the policy needs to be reviewed then the board of education needs to review it and we need to make it clear and concise, so we do not operate out of chaos and fear,” says Leroy Tre’ Hutchins, Cobb County School District board member. “It is definitely a chaotic situation when we have allowed politics to infuse our operations of the school district or any school district. Politics has now come in.”

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