San Ramon Valley school officials responded this week after an author who had been set to present her work to students at a local elementary school took to social media to express dismay over the recent cancellation of the planned presentation.
Co-authors Joanna Ho and and Caroline Kusin Pritchard had been set for an appearance at San Ramon’s Country Club Elementary School on Oct. 17 for a presentation to TK to third grade students as part of the tour for their new work “The Day the Books Disappeared”, which seeks to highlight and speak out against censorship and book-banning in public schools.
Upon their arrival, the authors were stopped by principal Jyoti Dave for a meeting in her office, in which Ho said in an Instagram post Wednesday that they were asked to “only talk about the book” and refrain from discussing the type of books that are often subject to bans, specifically those with LGBTQ+ content.
“We responded that this would be out of our integrity, and we would not change our presentation,” Ho said on Instagram. “Despite district approval for our visit, the principal informed us the directive came from above, and excused herself to call her district supervisor.”
After 40 minutes, Ho said that the students who had gathered for the event were sent back to class, and that she was not allowed to present.
According to a statement from the San Ramon Valley Unified School District on Wednesday evening, the situation had been spurred by concerns that were raised by principals at sites the book had previously been presented at.
“Specifically, the book’s message of kindness, empathy, and understanding was overshadowed by a presentation focused on book banning that extended beyond the developmental level of our youngest students,” Superintendent CJ Cammack said.
Cammack said the district had attempted to contact the organization that puts together author visits at SRVUSD to request “that the presentation be adjusted for a younger audience” prior to the Country Club visit.
“When no response was received, staff respectfully made the same request to the authors when they arrived on campus,” Cammack said. “The authors declined to modify their presentation to align with our requests and chose to leave without presenting.”
The authors contended that the material in their presentation had been tried and tested in presentations to thousands of students over the course of their book tour so far, ranging from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade.
“Our book and presentation encourage students to expand their perspectives and recognize our interconnectedness,” Ho said on Instagram. “We want students to know that their stories and all stories matter.”
“Students of Country Club Elementary, we hope you know that your community is better because you are in it,” she continued. “We see you. We celebrate you.”
As of Friday, some San Ramon Valley parents were seeking to invite the authors back for an independent talk unaffiliated with the district. No further details were available as of press time.
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