Wicomico County Board of Education Continues to Expose Minors to Obscenity

Upon investigation, the Wicomico County Board of Education, the Superintendent, and its Curriculum Screening Council continues to fail in its screening process to determine appropriate instructional materials. We have already caught them doing this on numerous occasions, but they fail to do anything about it when a complaint is filed (while hoping you won't notice). As in Loudoun County VA, the books "Monday's Not Coming" and "MurderTrending" are also used in Maryland, including Wicomico County Public Schools.

Watch the video below - WARNING: PARENTAL ADVISORY (You may want your children to leave the room before you play).

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You can see below that these books are used in Wicomico County Public Schools in both our Middle and High schools and read by students as young as 6th grade.

For starters, this is not about censorship or parents trying to dictate what a public school should or shouldn't teach. This is about the Wicomico County Board of Education, its Administration, and its Curriculum Screening Committee ignoring existing school policies, procedures, state, and federal laws, which define the appropriate boundaries of teaching materials, books, and media used in the public schools (which they are clearly violating). Although there may be varied views on this topic, personal opinion is irrelevant.

As mentioned in our past article titled: "Is WCBOE Indoctrinating our Students?" we discussed how WCBOE has established an unofficial, organized loophole in order to circumvent the teaching material screening process. This is accomplished by calling materials excerpts, ancillary resources, compilatory resources, seeds, units, framework, web resources, or they simply say that materials were approved by the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE). They refrain from using the word "curriculum" by rebranding teaching materials to call them something different. This illusionary trick is designed to minimize the significance of a teaching material in order to create an exception to the rule. This bypasses the criteria for requiring review or screening by such a committee. Using 9 chapters from a 10-chapter novel would then classify it as an excerpt, thus bypassing the screening process. A one-page poem acquired from a compilatory resource of poems, or an instructor using an online resource can serve as a bypass.

In addition, the WCBOE's Curriculum Council is responsible for screening curriculum, books, and teaching materials used by the school system. This internally-rigged council is all packed with board members, faculty, and administration. It does not consist of parents, and they purposely want it that way. Although they say that parents have the opportunity to provide input by coming down to the WCBOE office on Northwood Drive to review and submit comments on books, next to no parents actually know about this. They make it impossible for parents to reasonably access and review the materials without parents actually purchasing the books themselves, as the review process simply takes time. Having an appearance of inclusion and accommodation, it is simply a system of obstruction by the school system.

This illusionary tactic appearing to pose as a legitimate curriculum council is just the way they want it, and parental input is completely disregarded and unwanted in the end. Parents place their trust in each committee member's personal moral compass, which may or may not be up to par. This systematic manipulation is the intention and it's by design. This must end immediately, as several controversial books and resources are currently being used in conflict of existing WCBOE policies as well as the purpose for which the Curriculum Screening Committee even exists. This illusionary existence is an obstacle to genuine family engagement, contradicting their Family Engagement Policy.

WCBOE, the Superintendent, and its Administration also try to establish that a school library is separate from the school curriculum or teaching resources, which is not true. The WCBOE has a policy which applies to any book, instructional material, and media that enters the school system, which they are violating:

A school library is not the same as a public library, which they are trying to make it out to be in order to establish an excuse of illegitimate reasoning. A school library contains materials for teaching students and for them to learn. Any teacher can go to the school's library and utilize any resource material in the class, and integrate into the curriculum and their lesson plan (and they do). That's what a school library is for. Any book is accessible to any student, and is endorsed and approved by the school system. The school's library and classrooms are full of obscene and inappropriate materials in the name of equity, inclusion, and identity. This article only mentions three examples of books.

Section II. A. 2. of the WCBOE Sexual Harassment Policy states: "The WCBOE accepts no liability for harassment." Do they actually think they can pardon themselves in advance when it comes to sexual harassment, and grant themselves immunity with no regard to the law? The WCBOE and its administration are fully responsible and liable. Not only do they violate their own Selection and Review on Textbooks, Instructional Materials, and Media Materials Policy, they also violate several other policies, such as their Sexual Harassment Policy, Violation of Criminal Laws Policy, the philosophy of their Mission & Vision Policy, as it relates to the overall well-being and role of the school system. Instead, they are using textbooks, instructional, and media materials that discourage, discriminates, disables, creates a sense of futility, sexualizes, harasses, causes division, confuses, promotes destructive character traits, violence, and lawlessness. They have created and supported a hostile educational and working environment. There is no moral or ethical standard, and such materials violate the citizens' rights under the U.S. Constitution and the guaranteed Free and Appropriate Education that all parents desire from the public school system. Currently, it's not free, and it's not appropriate.

"The U.S. Supreme Court established the test that judges and juries use to determine whether matter is obscene in three major cases: Miller v. California, 413 U.S. 15, 24-25 (1973); Smith v. United States, 431 U.S. 291, 300-02, 309 (1977); and Pope v. Illinois, 481 U.S. 497, 500-01 (1987). The three-pronged Miller test is as follows:

1. Whether the average person, applying contemporary adult community standards, finds that the matter, taken as a whole, appeals to prurient interests (i.e., an erotic, lascivious, abnormal, unhealthy, degrading, shameful, or morbid interest in nudity, sex, or excretion);

2. Whether the average person, applying contemporary adult community standards, finds that the matter depicts or describes sexual conduct in a patently offensive way (i.e., ultimate sexual acts, normal or perverted, actual or simulated, masturbation, excretory functions, lewd exhibition of the genitals, or sado-masochistic sexual abuse); and

3. Whether a reasonable person finds that the matter, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.

Any material that satisfies this three-pronged test may be found obscene." [1]

Federal law strictly prohibits the distribution of obscene matter to minors. Any transfer or attempt to transfer such material to a minor under the age of 16, including over the Internet, is punishable under federal law. Clearly based upon the rulings and precedent of the Supreme Court regarding obscenity, the WCBOE Board members and administration are in clear violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which means that they are violating the civil rights of every parent and student who attends public school in Wicomico County Maryland.

In addition, according to Maryland State Criminal Law Code Annotated §11-201, § 11-202, § 11-203, the WCBOE and its administration are violating Maryland code criminal law on obscenity.

Actions have been taken up previously on the use of obscene materials used in Wicomico County Public Schools and they continue to acquire and utilize such books. These books should have never entered the school system, and they craftily work to try and make exceptions. Such actions include taking the complaints to the Principal, Superintendent, Board members, Wicomico County Council, Wicomico County Sherriff's Department, the Wicomico County State's Attorney, Maryland State Department of Education, Maryland State Board of Education, Maryland State Office of School Accountability, and Governor Larry Hogan. Their failure to act in addressing unconstitutional and illegal practices means that they have failed the public trust of citizens.

The WCBOE and its Administration are failing to carry out their governing roles, have continually avoided citizens by blocking them from physically attending board meetings, have been negligent, committed several violations, exempt themselves and ignore school policy, committed a criminal felony under state and federal law by definition, and are not fit to serve in their capacity. Our solution is to replace the entire Board, Administration, and any other elected officials, including council members, delegates, senators, and governor who impede the quality of education for our citizens.

It's time to consider other people who will not betray public trust. Please remember the election in November of 2022, and never forget the empty uniforms that have failed us and our children. If you are interested in serving our community in the best interest of our school children, please consider running for the Wicomico County Board of Education to replace those listed below. In the meantime, an email or a phone call to the current board members to voice your concerns over what they see as "best" for your child would be most appropriate.

In addition, you can sign this petition to help us put an end to this.

WCBOE Board Members

Gene Malone - gmalone@wcboe.org

Donald Fitzgerald - dfitzger@wcboe.org

Allen Brown - abrown@wcboe.org

John Palmer - jpalmer@wcboe.org

Tonya Lewis - tlewis@wcboe.org

Michael Murray - mmurray@wcboe.org

Ann Suthowski - asuthowsk@wcboe.org

Fellows & Editors

May 17, 2021 Copyright DelmarvaPTC.org

Please consider joining the Delmarva Parent Teacher Coalition for FREE, and follow us on FaceBook to stay informed of what's really happening with education in our schools.

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References

1. U.S Dept. of Justice - Obscenity Law: https://www.justice.gov/criminal-ceos/citizens-guide-us-federal-law-obscenity

2. Maryland Obscenity Law: http://endsexualexploitation.org/wp-content/uploads/Maryland-Obscenity-Laws.pdf

3. "Monday's Not Coming" - Tiffany D. Jackson, 2017

4. "# MurderTrending" - Gretchen McNeil, 2018

5. "Persepolis" - Marjane Satrapi 2003

All copyright © information provided at no charge and strictly for educational purposes under the Fair Use Act.