HERMON, Maine — Concerned parents from Hermon are asking the district to implement age-appropriate standards to the school's library policies.
Mother of a Hermon student and organizer Regina Leonard said she and other parents wanted to see if explicit materials were available in the school libraries.
"I just started looking because I could not believe it could ever possibly be in Hermon," Leonard said. "Very quickly I discovered that wasn't true."
According to the group, they claim to have found over 80 books containing sexually explicit materials in both middle and high schools.
Parents said the school agreed to review the library's policy and will compare any concerning content in the books they're questioning if submitted as an appeal via school form IJJ-E.
However, the parents said they aren't looking to appeal the books but instead create a rating system instead of taking anything off the shelves.
"We haven't submitted any book appeals, because this was about 'Do we need standards in our school, and if so what standards are age-appropriate?'" mother and town councilwoman Danielle Haggerty said.
The parents also claimed they submitted a template of what they would like the age-appropriate standards to look like to the school committee, but have yet to see it implemented in presented reviews of the policy.
According to the school district, the current library policy states the selection of books is the responsibility of "professionally trained personnel employed by the school system, [and] subject to the criteria and procedures for selection.”
The criteria take into consideration the differing opinions and maturity levels of the students.
NEWS CENTER Maine reached out to the district for a comment, and the school said it will not comment until after the upcoming school committee meeting this Monday.
This comes just months after the Bonny Eagle School Board ended a push from parents to remove a controversial book.
Leonard said she just wants the school committee to work with parents to come to an agreement, and that the group's message has become misunderstood as wanting to ban the books.
"I want them to listen. I want them to open their minds. This town is so divided right now. I don't know that everyone truly understands our message because I don't think they're listening," Leonard said. "We are not against the teachers. We have wonderful teachers in this school. We want to come together and create a solution that we can get behind."
The school committee meeting to review the policy starts at 6:30 p.m.