Letter: Prejudice, sexism, and bigotry, a terrifying dystopian reality in Tillamook, Oregon

Over the past five months, the administrative leadership in the Tillamook School District has been lobbying for the removal of the multicultural text How the García Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez. This young adult novel, part of the approved district curriculum, underwent extensive review in 2022 and is also endorsed by the state board of education as an approved Language Arts material. However, leadership in Tillamook has taken a different stance—despite the fact that they have never read the text and despite its optional use in 10th-grade classrooms.

During the August 12 school board meeting, things came to a head as Charlotte Ellis, wife of Superintendent Ellis, recommended the removal of the novel from the curriculum. This recommendation came after a curriculum review committee meeting took place June 29. Though some have called into question the legitimacy of the committee due to the lack of adherence to board policy IIA-AR(2) -Complaints About Curriculum or Instructional Material.

Regardless, the recommendation was passed on to the school board, who, apart from Kris Lachenmeier, had not read the material. Lachenmeier, the only informed voting party, voted to keep the book as a reading option for our students. Unfortunately, all other board members do not share her belief in freedom, diversity, and anti-censorship.

As a community member and parent, I am deeply disturbed by this uninformed abuse of power, which has led to censorship in our once free schools. Such actions create a terrifyingly dystopian reality. Throughout history, book banning and censorship of materials has never been the practice of free, democratic, and just societies. Instead, it is a hallmark of regimes like China, Nazi Germany, and the Soviet Union.

I moved my family to Tillamook because I believed in the values of freedom and respect for individual rights that this community upheld. It is shocking to see our school board, principals, and superintendent failing to uphold these values.