Palmyra school board to vote on contentious French book at next meeting

This article was funded by LebTown donors as part of our Civic Impact Reporting Project.

The Palmyra school board will decide on Feb. 12 whether or not to approve a teacher’s request for a new book to use in the high school’s French II class.

The curriculum committee heard during its Jan. 22 meeting that the book “Alice: La Liste” will be brought forward for a vote at the next meeting. The book has been a topic of discussion for several weeks, with some district officials and residents concerned about some of its content.

A high school French teacher requested the book, which follows a young Alice who is moving from southern France to Paris, for her French II class. The request states that it would educate students about the French language, grammar, and culture.

At the December curriculum committee meeting, board member Seth Steinmetz questioned some of the material in the book after briefly researching it. He and fellow board member Corey Andrew raised concerns about “fringe topics” in the book.

The district has since received comments from community members at board meetings, through official communications included in the record, and on social media.

Resident Carrie Bonanno spoke during at the Jan. 22 meeting, giving a brief overview of the book and the portion that some board members found objectionable.

“Alice walks the street with her boyfriend, who is French but of Arab descent,” she said. “A man on the street calls him a dirty Arab and tells him to go back to his country, but Alice’s boyfriend does not rise to the bait. He models restraint in the face of oppression.”

Bonanno also said that Alice shows positive character traits, makes mistakes, and learns from them, which would be good lessons for students to read about.

“I’m puzzled why anyone would find this book objectionable,” she said. “It presents a story that teenagers can relate to, and teaches them lessons about tenacity, restraint, adaptability, and responsibility, all while presenting them with an opportunity to improve their comprehension of French vocabulary and grammar. I’m disturbed that anyone would propose banning anything without reading it first.”

Online and during public comments, residents have spoken up against the “book ban.” Board president Jill Martin made a statement at the start of the regular voting meeting addressing this language.

“The law is clear that initial decisions made by schools over which books to purchase or assign to students are not considered book bans, and courts have largely affirmed the discretion of school boards and in the First Amendment to make these choices,” she said. “The Supreme Court has also recognized that school boards may make curricular decisions to reflect community values and select the best materials to satisfy our very high standards.”

She urged members of the public to attend meetings or watch the recordings in full rather than viewing snippets that are “taken out of context.” The district and school board will continue asking questions about all requested materials, Martin said.

In response to a public comment, district superintendent Bernie Kepler said that guardians can request that their student be exempt from certain educational materials and be offered a “replacement learning opportunity,” though he didn’t remember the last time the district received one of these requests.

Steinmetz, who attended the meeting online, said he appreciated the community’s engagement regardless of their opinions, and the board’s opinions require as much information and detail as possible. He said district administration provided the board with the additional requested information about “Alice: La Liste.”

The board will vote on whether the book will be purchased and used in the French II curriculum at the Feb. 12 meeting.

Martin’s statement also spoke about the suspension of the wrestling coaches and the public’s behavior in response. She said feedback in person and online is important, though some individuals have crossed the line into “personal attacks, insults, and bullying.”

“When criticism turns into cruelty, it does real harm to educators, to volunteers — your school board members are all volunteers — to families, and ultimately to our students who are watching and learning from us,” she said. “A friend’s Palmyra High School student shared with their mom this past week that the students are handling this situation with the wrestling team and the curriculum review much better than the adults, in their opinion.”

Wrestling coaches Jonathan Regets and Joshua Weidman were suspended at the end of December and beginning of January, respectively, pending an investigation into anonymous allegations. Regets previously told LebTown that his suspension came an hour after he benched a player — also a son of a sitting board member — for repeated unsportsmanlike conduct.

Over a dozen people attended the first January meeting to voice their support for the coaches, and even more submitted official communications to the board.

The coaches were later reinstated with “additional safety measures,” according to Martin. Kepler said an investigation is ongoing.

In other business, the board:

• Approved all change orders for the high school and district office renovation project listed in the agenda.
• Heard from Kepler that the district added books to the school libraries in honor of the board for School Board Appreciation Month.
• Approved the 2025-26 real estate tax resolution, which caps the 2026-27 real estate tax increase at 4.55%.
• Briefly discussed getting new bids for a solicitor. A slim majority of the board present was in favor.
• Received a report about potential construction and renovation projects at Pine Street Elementary School and the high school. For Pine’s HVAC, roofing, and flooring, the estimated cost is $4,531,446. The high school project could be a larger scale, depending on the school board’s decision at a later meeting. Kepler said they’re looking at possibly starting construction in the summer of 2027, and they will look into a grant opportunity for funding assistance.

The Palmyra school board will meet next at Lingle Avenue Elementary School on Feb. 12 at 6 p.m. Meetings can also be attended via Zoom.