MOORPARK : School Board to Hear Opposition to Books
Moorpark school board member Tom Baldwin tonight will seek the support of his fellow board members in an ongoing battle to remove “The Clan of the Cave Bear” and other works by popular novelist Jean Auel from a recommended high school reading list.
Baldwin has for more than a year been pressing to have four Auel works taken off the 11th-grade reading list because of concerns over their explicit sexual content.
The board member’s crusade against the books has already failed to find favor with a high school committee, a district advisory panel and Supt. Tom Duffy. Baldwin said that if his colleagues on the board also reject his appeal, he will accept the decision and drop the matter.
“My feeling is that the school board is the place to make this decision,” Baldwin said Monday.
Technically, Baldwin could appeal an unfavorable board ruling to the county Board of Education. The district could similarly appeal a decision by the board to remove the books from the list.
The board will consider the matter at its 7 p.m. meeting in the Moorpark Community Center, 799 Moorpark Ave.
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