Despite the protests of a Fond du Lac High School student and her parents calling for the removal of Maya Angelou's ""I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings"" from the classroom, the principal said Tuesday the book will continue to be taught.
""I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings"" is the first of several autobiographical books written by Angelou. Some deemed the book inappropriate because of a scene describing the rape of the main character.
Principal Mary Fran Merwin said the high school made the decision after a series of meetings this month.
According to Judy Goldsmith, a citizen member of the Reconsideration Committee for Fond du Lac High School, a student and her parents made a formal complaint about the book. The female student was then given the option of an alternative assignment. The student and her parents decided to take the complaint one step further and requested the book be taken out of the entire class's curriculum.
Ceceila Henry, a sophomore student who read the book in Jennifer McClyman's English class, said she was unaware of which student made the complaint.
On Nov. 21, the school held a public hearing to debate the book's content.
At the community meeting there was overwhelming support to keep the book in the curriculum, said Goldsmith, a former dean of UW-Fond du Lac. ""Only two people were present who supported the removal of the book.""
Goldsmith also said that during the hearing people spoke strongly about the importance of providing students with the opportunity to learn about the realities of cultures that are not necessarily their own.
"" I believe that the book did have some graphic parts to it, but overall it's just an autobiography about [Angelou's] life,"" Henry said.
After much deliberation in a closed session, the reconsideration committee decided to keep teaching the book in the sophomore curriculum.
""During the meeting there was a great deal of concern expressed for ensuring that parents' concerns were addressed appropriately and respectfully,"" Goldsmith said. ""[We considered] the educational needs of the classroom and to ensure that teachers were supported in the academic process.""
The parents who brought the complaint to the school have indicated that they are satisfied with outcome, Goldsmith said.
The committee also recommended that in the future, parents be notified in advance of books containing controversial material.
Angelou's book has been a target of censors in the past, but UW-Madison professor of library and information studies, Louise Robbins, said she personally believes the autobiography is ""not the kind of book [she] would hesitate to give to a teenager.""
