A Tale of Two Elmbrook Superintendents
Strongly divergent responses to books with explicit content occur in an 18 month period by Elmbrook Superintendent Mark Hansen.
Widespread exposure of explicit books in Elmbrook libraries first occurred in July 2021, when Superintendent Mark Hansen was served this letter. Parents had reached out to a public-interest law firm for assistance after they discovered explicit content in libraries. Subsequent research showed explicit content accessible as early as 3rd grade.
Several months later, during the 9/14/21 Board meeting, President Scott Wheeler apologized for inappropriate books. As he said, "some of the descriptions in these books are graphic, have no educational value and do not belong in any Elmbrook library."
Despite the apology, the issue has persisted. In November 2022, the Journal Sentinel covered Elmbrook’s explicit books where objections were painted as either book banning, bigoted, or driven by people outside the Elmbrook community. The article does not show the obscene and/or explicit materials in books that were referenced.
At that time, Elmbrook’s Chief Strategy Officer Chris Thompson is quoted as saying:
“We just want to make sure our kids are reading the appropriate books.”
But are they?
More recent responses to explicit books
January 2023
“Fun Home” was discovered in Elmbrook libraries by community members in early January 2023. Formal and informal complaints were made due to pornographic and obscene content, with additional concerns over suspected pedophilia in the book.
Open records relating to the book purchase state the pedophilia concerns:
The book remained in the library.
Then, “Fun Home” and its content was covered by local media and on Twitter later in January.
This generated a swift response where the book was removed. The Superintendent followed up with this response:
18 months later…
August 2024
“The Kite Runner” and “The Handmaid’s Tale” - which include child rape and child sodomy - had been in review for their current use in Elmbrook’s AP Literature class. (Community research showed that these books were in curriculum as early as 9th grade and approved back in 2012.)
Before the Board voted to either exclude or include these books with explicit content, the Superintendent chose to speak.
“I’ve been asked by community members, and even a board member, on why I didn’t put my foot on the scale and have these books stripped from the TLC [Teaching & Learning Committee] proposal. One individual even went as far as claiming I lack leadership. I’d like to address this thinking and address my thinking on this topic, so as to make it extremely transparent and very clear where I stand on this issue.
Reason number one I’m in support of the teacher recommendation, first and foremost, I trust our teachers. We’ve been able to find some of the very, very best teachers, best educators I’ve ever seen to teach our children, and I trust them. If our practitioners are unified in their recommendation and have sound rationale, I trust their expertise. I have been very fortunate to have our youngest son influenced and inspired by such amazing teachers in this district. Some of these teachers have spoken out passionately about their craft, and I can tell you, they are really, really good at it.
Reason number two, I’m increasingly convinced that sensitive topics or trauma are best taught in controlled environments. With the advent of smartphones our students are exposed to difficult content in environments where trusted and caring adults may not be available, may not be available to help, processing the necessary reflections, discussions and emotions when confronted with traumatizing content is very, very important. We can only do that with trained teachers.
Reason number three, this is a college level course that is an elective. Parents have had the option of opting their child out for over a decade. We have not had any objections to the book, our teachers are as transparent with our families about what is being taught in their classrooms as any school system I’m aware of anywhere. Our families are engaged and know what is going on.
Reason number four, this is a slippery slope that could signal to our staff that the Board of Education does not trust their expertise, which would negatively impact our ability to attract and retain great teachers.
For these four reasons, among the many others that have been written to you and in email or delivered in a speech upcoming, I ask you to support the book list that our experts put forward.
Trust our teachers to teach, trust our parents to parent, trust our students to learn.”
Reflections
To begin, there are some differences between the books. “Fun Home” was in the library versus “The Kite Runner” and “The Handmaid’s Tale” are in the curriculum. Secondly, “Fun Home” has oral sex, nudity, an autopsy and suspected pedophilia, while “The Kite Runner” and “The Handmaid’s Tale” have child sodomy and child rape.
That said, the vastly different responses to these sexually explicit books in Elmbrook raise many questions.
Why do recent comments no longer reference adherence to policies and practices as they did in 2023?
Why did Superintendent Mark Hansen’s comments mention upcoming speeches? Was Superintendent Hansen told by individuals they would speak out? Or, did he (also) encourage and/or recruit individuals to speak out to support his opinion?
Why did Superintendent Mark Hansen bring up his family in both responses? In 2023, he referenced being a Dad as part of his apology. In 2024, he mentioned his son being in the district when he complimented teachers. Is he suggesting that since his family is ok with this, other families should be too? Or is this a distraction from potential failures to follow policy?
Did the negative media attention that occurred after “Fun Home” motivate Superintendent Mark Hansen? National media attention seemed to be a significant factor in Elmbrook changing their opinion when an explicit and violent book - “Assassination Classroom” - reached national news in March 2023.
As explicit books in curriculum and libraries continue to be a discussion point in education nationwide, it is likely that this issue is far from being resolved.
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