Radnor students walk out of school to protest book bans

Upon learning that three graphic novels had been pulled from her school library’s shelves last month after a parent alleged they contained “child pornography,” Regan Whitehead decided to read them.

Whitehead, a 16-year-old junior at Radnor High School, came to a different conclusion about Gender Queer, Fun Home, and Blankets. She felt the three memoirs — two of which focus on LGBTQ characters grappling with their identities — were no more inappropriate than other library books with graphic material about straight couples and their sexuality.

After talking with senior Addison Carter, another Radnor student upset by the book bans, Whitehead said they thought: “We should try to do something about this.”

On Friday, the students helped lead a walkout during which about 75 students briefly left school to protest the book removals and demand more transparency from the district, which they say never told them directly about the decision.

Community members have also objected to the district’s process in removing the books, which were pulled from the high school library on Feb. 28 after a parent filed complaints about them and an ad-hoc committee appointed by Superintendent Ken Batchelor voted 5-1 to remove them from the library. The district has said it will review its book removal policy.

In each of the complaints submitted in January, the parent — whose name was redacted from records provided by the district — attached images from the books depicting sexual encounters, and said that while “perhaps” there was something of value in the material, “child pornography disqualifies the entire book.”

The parent also listed “childhood trauma, willingness to be sexually exploited, enabling sexual groomers and acceptance of pedophilia” in response to a question on the challenge forms that asked, “What do you feel might be the result of a student using this material?”

The committee determined the books were “not age-appropriate for our students,” said a Radnor spokesperson, Theji Brennan. She said the committee included an administrator, principal, librarian, school board member, classroom teacher in the subject area, and parent, but didn’t provide names — saying committee members had all signed confidentiality agreements.

The district didn’t publicly disclose the book challenges, or announce the removal decisions, until after The Inquirer reported on them.

At a recent school board policy committee meeting, some students said they were upset to learn about the book removals from their parents, rather than the school.

Whitehead, who said she was “outraged” by both the bans and the lack of notification, said “there is definitely a discussion in the school. There are a lot of people who think the books shouldn’t be banned,” and others who support the removals. She thinks if students read the books and not just the complaints, they might have a different opinion.

She and other students launched an Instagram account, Radnor Right to Education, and planned Friday’s walkout.

Brennan, who said outside media would not be allowed on school grounds during the demonstration, said administrators had given students permission to walk out between classes. “Participation is entirely voluntary, and students who choose to take part will not be penalized,” she said, adding that instruction would “continue as usual for those students who are not participating.”

Carter, who is president of Radnor High’s Women’s Empowerment Club, said the population of LGBTQ students at the school is relatively small, and “we want to feel accepted in the literature we read.”

She said she hopes the books “will be unbanned, preferably” and that going forward, the high school will add more library books with queer representation.

Asked whether restoring the books was a possibility, Brennan said the school board was “committed to reviewing” its library policy “in future school board policy committee meetings.”

Community members have called on the district to revise its policy, which has been in place since 2008. Among other demands, some have asked the district to establish an appeals process for book decisions, and to add student representation to review committees.

The district previously evaluated a challenge to Gender Queer — which has topped most-banned lists — three years earlier, but decided at the time to keep the book. On both occasions, district officials say they followed the same policy.

In a January email to fellow parents that was shared with The Inquirer by a community member, Mike Lake, who was involved in filing a police complaint in 2022 over Gender Queer’s presence in the library, wrote that “after more than three years of going back and forth with Dr. Ken Batchelor, Radnor Police, and Delaware County Special Victims Unit, I think I have finally convinced him and RTSD’s legal counsel that certain books housed in Radnor High School’s library violate Commonwealth and Federal law by containing child pornography.”

Lake also wrote that Batchelor “invited me to request an ad hoc committee to review books” and “to suggest names.” District officials told The Inquirer they did not select any committee members suggested by the parent who filed the challenges.

Lake declined to comment Friday on the district’s response to the book challenges, but said “there were 20 signatures on a complaint to the Radnor police,” and that he wasn’t alone in his objections.

Whitehead, meanwhile, said students will be continuing to press the school board to make changes. The policy is “not well-written — it’s vague,” she said, and doesn’t specify how the superintendent should select review committees: “We don’t know how that was chosen, who those people are.”