On the Eanes School District's response to "Call Me Max."

This letter was submitted to the board of the Eanes School District in advance of their 3/9/2021 meeting.

Dear Ms. Fambrough:

I read with interest the letter you recently sent to families [copied below] regarding a teacher who chose to read a book I wrote, “Call Me Max,” to a fourth-grade classroom.

“Call Me Max” is an early reader, written intentionally to be accessible for early readers, typically children around first and second grade. It tells the story of Max, a young transgender boy, and how he came to learn about himself and share that with his friends and family. It is generally regarded as a sweet, gentle introduction to the subject of transgender identities and gender stereotypes, based on my experience as both a transgender man and an elementary school librarian.

You describe it as a book containing “sensitive material” about “a young person explaining the topic of gender identity.” You use the phrase “gender identity” three times in this letter, in fact, when the book is more specifically about a transgender boy. I am curious: why did you not use the word “transgender” in this letter? How do you feel about that word? How do you feel about transgender people? Did you know that most people, yourself included I assume, have a gender identity? When you hear the word “transgender,” what comes to your mind? If you read the book “Call Me Max,” did that story teach you anything? If you didn’t read “Call Me Max,” why not?

I was also fascinated to read the part where you explain that “As soon as this occurrence came to the attention of the principal, he immediately contacted the district office. Counselors were made available to support students, and the school administration worked with families to provide an explanation and reassurances.” I spent eight years as an elementary school librarian, and am familiar with the situations where so many resources are expended to ensure the wellbeing of students and families—after the Sandy Hook shooting, for example, or after a death in the school, or some other crisis. Do you believe that a readaloud about a transgender child is an equivalent trauma? How do you think transgender people in your community felt having their identities treated like a disaster? Do you provide similar resources after a student in your district experiences homophobia or transphobia? Do you provide similar support to students experiencing other forms of oppression, like racism or ableism?

Your letter says that “we have always tried to create a climate where all children feel they belong.” How do you think transgender people in your community will feel after reading this letter? Do you think this would encourage talented transgender educators to apply for positions in your schools? Do you think all children, all people, can feel like they belong in a community where books about them are met with such disavowal? What are you doing to ensure that the needs of all people in your community are being met, aside from putting that sentence in a letter, the entirety of which indicates the opposite?

In disappointment,

Kyle Lukoff

A Message Regarding Age-Appropriate Instructional Resources -

We feel fortunate in Eanes ISD that teachers and staff commonly collaborate and share resources to ensure engaging instruction, particularly with literacy. We want to inform you of a situation that occurred last week, where a teacher disseminated a list of children’s books in preparation for Read Across America, which included titles and topics pertaining to Black and Women’s history months. This appeared innocuous enough (see the full list here); teachers have always shared resources, and not all open-source materials need administrative review. This specific list, however, was not appropriately reviewed before it was distributed more broadly and a book on the list contained sensitive material not appropriate to be read aloud to an entire elementary-age class.

The book, which tells the story of a young person explaining the topic of gender identity, was shown/read in its entirety to one fourth-grade classroom at Forest Trail Elementary. There was no administrative directive to read this particular book because administrators did not realize the resource was being shared. As soon as this occurrence came to the attention of the principal, he immediately contacted the district office.

Counselors were made available to support students, and the school administration worked with families to provide an explanation and reassurances. Best practices are being reviewed with teachers for selecting and previewing the content and suitability of common instructional resources.

Contrary to speculation, the book list and book in question were not recommended by the DEI Advisory Committee. The DEI committee was not even aware the book list had been circulated. The good news is, many Eanes ISD elementary teachers did not show the book in their classrooms, immediately recognizing the complexity and potential controversy of the material.

The particular topic of the book (gender identity) is understandably sensitive and personally important to many families. In time, the subject of gender identity may be addressed instructionally – but only with proper caution and prior parent awareness. We recognize, while we have always tried to create a climate where all children feel they belong, we also have to be aware of the maturity level of children in the classroom regarding sensitive topics.

Please know we share the concerns some have voiced and are addressing this situation. We plan to use this as an opportunity to reinforce to our staff the need to implement instructional, age- and developmentally appropriate safeguards to prevent further occurrences such as this without prior oversight and parental knowledge.

The partnership with parents is incredibly important; we want to encourage teachers to collaborate and share resources but we recognize proper vetting and protocols must be involved with especially sensitive topics such as this.

Sincerely,

Susan Fambrough

Chief Learning Officer