The unanimous decision Friday of the Las Cruces Public Schools board affirmed the school superintendent’s decision to honor the 6-1 vote in October to keep the book “Jack of Hearts (and Other Parts)” in the Mayfield High School Library. The book was originally brought to the attention of the LCPS school board by Juan Garcia, chairman of the Coalition of Conservatives in Action; and Sara Smith, a member of the New Mexico Freedoms Alliance, both who objected to the book’s graphic content.
At Friday’s Hearing Appeal under Policy KEC and Regulations KEC-R and KEF-R, Beth Bousquet, who stood in for Juan Garcia, and Sara Smith were given ten minutes to make their final case for the book’s removal from the school’s library, after which Mayfield High School’s librarian, Karen Hason Sharp, was given ten minutes to make her case for its inclusion. After that, the LCPS board voted unanimously to affirm the superintendent’s decision to deny removal of the book from the library. Afterwards, board member Carol Cooper explained her vote for keeping the book in the library.
“The book lets students see who they are, that every single one of us is valued.”
LCPS board president Teresa Tenorio gave an emotional testimonial before the final vote. She explained her feelings afterwards.
“I think I mentioned briefly that the internal challenge I have is that fear of being shamed, of coming out of these types of meetings and having fingers pointed at myself, and wondering ‘How are they thinking of how I voted on this book?’. And yet, at the same time, I realized that that’s irrelevant, ‘cause this book’s not about me and this vote’s not about me.”
Tenorio also added that parents will still have the option to deny access to “Jack of Hearts (and Other Parts)” to their children from the school library.
