Dupage Policy Journal

The Wheaton/Warrenville Community Unit School District 200 Board of Education released parts of a closed session at the request of many parents in the district. Jeff Schuler, the district superintendent, said that the district would release the discussion. 

Gender Queer is a memoir penned by Maia Kobabe about the author’s own life and experience with gender identity. The book is in the form of a graphic novel and was originally published in 2019. It has since been challenged by many libraries and organizations due to its graphic topics and images.

Many parents were present at a recent school board meeting to discuss their opinions on the board’s recent actions pertaining to the book. 

"So we are releasing in full any of the discussion related to the reconsideration of media complaint and we are releasing in full with the redaction only of a couple of specific names, the full minutes from that meeting," Schuler said in the meeting. 

Many people were upset that the board chose to discuss the inclusion or exclusion of the book in a closed executive session, rather than the public session that the topic demanded. They asked the board to release the entirety of the meeting and minutes to the public. The board did vote on putting out portions of the audio recording and minutes to the people. 

The superintendent noted that he was taking the fall for having the discussion in a closed session instead of public. He also asserted that they were putting out the whole of the debate about the book but were keeping some parts of the meeting undisclosed because there were other discussions that are required to remain private, such as employment.