An Insider’s Guide to the Conroe ISD Level 3 Hearing on “Lily and Dunkin”
Michele Nuckolls explains the process leading up to the Level 3 hearing where four CISD Trustees refused to remove this harmful book.
April 25, 2024
by Michele Nuckolls, Two Moms and Some Books
On April 18, a book that concerned our community came before the school board for a Level 3 hearing. The way it works is that when a parent first finds a concerning book, he or she will either informally ask the librarians to look into it or formally challenge the book beginning the formal reconsideration process.
If the parent decides to formally challenge the book, this is considered a “Level 2” when the book comes before the anonymous kangaroo committee. My understanding is there are a lot of questions about how these committee members are chosen and how fair the committee really is. I hope to look more closely at this in the future.
The Level 2 committee unanimously approved the book to be available to 7th graders. The claim that these members were randomly chosen from a pool of volunteers is, frankly, not believable.
How the Process Started
The book, Lily and Dunkin, was identified by Mr. Garrett Costello. Mr. Costello decided to go directly to the formal challenge process to get the book on record as he was appalled that it had been placed on the shelves for 5th graders to pick up. The kangaroo committee decided to remove it from 5th and 6th grade libraries but leave it in the junior high and high school libraries. I will add the book quotes below, or you can access them in my review article. I think you will agree with Mr. Costello that this was completely unacceptable.
Mr. Costello then decided to move forward with a Level 3 appeal to the school board. This means he, or a representative of his choosing, would present an argument before the board for 10 minutes. A representative from the school would have 10 minutes to counter, and the board would have time for questions and discussion.
Mr. Costello was not able to present that day, so I volunteered to present for him. I am honored that he would trust me with this profoundly important task.