One parent complains, and Independence schools pull a book with a nonbinary character

Removing books from school library shelves is just plain silly. But no one should be laughing in the Independence School District.

This week, by a 6-1 vote, the Independence School District Board of Education voted to remove the children’s fiction book “Cats vs. Robots: This is War” from elementary school libraries within the district.

The work includes a nonbinary character named Javi.

The vote to ban the title was the latest in a series of mean-spirited decisions by the Independence school board and Superintendent Dale Herl to cast aside the concerns of marginalized students.

“Cats vs. Robots: This is War,” was written by New York Times best-selling authors Margaret Stohl and Lewis Peterson. On the book’s website, it is described as a “delightfully spun tale of robot overlords, secret feline agents and Earthling humans who are in for a real catastrophe.”

Pun intended, we’re guessing.

Published by HarperCollins in 2018, “Cats vs. Robots” was recommended for readers in grades 3-6 by the School Library Journal, a monthly magazine that’s been around for more than six decades. Apparently, elementary students and their parents in the Independence School District won’t have the option of reading the book together.

In Chapter 9 of the book, readers are introduced to Javi and their preferred pronoun, “they.” A discussion on gender identity follows.

A parent challenged the appropriateness of the book for elementary school students and won. The move sets a terrible precedent.

“Being a kid — any kid, in any family — is not ever inappropriate, not ever wrong, not ever a crime,” Stohl, the co-author, wrote on Twitter this week. “My heart breaks for any kid, in Kansas City or anywhere in the world, who is made to feel otherwise, who doesn’t get to see themselves on the shelves of their school library.”

The tale about warring robots and felines in a futuristic world is not required reading for students, nor does the district promote the work, said school board member Anthony Mondaine, the lone dissenting voter.

One individual’s grievance should not precipitate a book’s removal. What about the interest of children who identify with characters in the book?

“As a parent, my expectation of other parents and guardians who might find this book or any book, problematic, would be to continue monitoring our children’s associations and what comes in our homes, as we should, and simply avoid the material,” Mondaine said Wednesday. “ I support parents making the decisions for their homes and children, not other children and entire schools. This is dangerous. In my opinion, removing the book can send a message of fear and exclusion.”

Jill Esry has been elected to the Independence school board three times since 2010. Until Tuesday, she had never voted on removing a book from school libraries, she told fellow board members.

Yet Esry cast one of six votes approving recommendations from the district’s Challenged Materials Review Committee to exclude the book from K-5 elementary school libraries.

The work will still be offered at the middle and high school levels, according to district officials.

Attempts to reach Esry for comment were unsuccessful.

After a parent complaint, district officials appointed a review committee of nine people to pore over the book’s pages, according to an item listed on Tuesday’s school board meeting agenda. We asked Independence School District officials for more information on the committee and how members were appointed but the inquiries went unanswered.

The public should know who is making these decisions and how the group was chosen.

In the book, the twin protagonists are often at odds with each other. The pair must overcome their differences or risk being caught in the middle of conflict between robots and cats. Elements encouraging children to pursue STEM education are included, according to the publisher.

Removing the book from elementary school libraries isn’t fair or welcoming, and sends a cold message to marginalized students. In a public school setting, every student has a right to read books with characters they can relate to.

Parents can help their children with decisions about which books to read — but shouldn’t be able to impose their beliefs on everyone.

Why is it so difficult for Independence school district officials to understand that?

This story was originally published June 17, 2022 at 5:00 AM.