Supervisor objects to possible school book

A Trempealeau County board member unsuccessfully sought help from the county’s human services department to control books he said were objectionable and possibly headed for a county school district.

Supervisor Andy Todd last Tuesday asked staff of the county’s human resources department if it could help block a book for young people that he said contained offensive and graphic language.

“Since you work with children,” Todd said following the department’s summary of its 2022 work, “I thought this might be a time to bring this up.

“Holmen has approved this book for sixth through eighth graders and G-E-T (School District) is considering it” Todd said of the book that he noted is aimed at LGBT topics. “It contains (numerous instances) of graphic words. As a county, can we say this is not a positive book.”

Human resources director Deb Suchla said her department “can’t control books.”

“There are many opinions on (LGBT) matters and it’s not our job to encourage or discourage them,” Suchla said. “We do teach young people to have respect and that includes using appropriate language.”