Controversial Children's Book Returns To CMS Shelves

A picture book based on a true story about two male penguins that raise an adopted hatchling together was heading back to CMS bookshelves Wednesday night until a decision about its future could be made.

"And Tango Makes Three" was removed from shelves in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools after parent inquiries. Superintendent Peter Gorman acknowledged Tuesday that his staff failed to follow district policy and banned the book after no formal complaints were made. A committee will be allowed to review the decision, he said.

The story about presumably gay penguins at New York's Central Park Zoo has been the focus of proposed bans at schools and public libraries in several states. Charlotte-Mecklenburg is the first school district to ban the book, according to the American Library Association.

The ban came in a Nov. 30 memo from district administrators to school principals and library staff. Gorman said parents and a Republican county official had asked him about the book.

A miscommunication between Gorman and his chief of staff, Robert Avossa, led to the book being banned with neither a written complaint nor an advisory committee review at a school as required by district policy, Gorman said.

He said during his weekly media briefing early Wednesday that he asked Avossa to check out the book and told him, “do what you need to do.”

“That was interpreted as -- and that's my fault, I wasn't clear, the burden comes to me -- as ‘pull the book,’” Gorman said.

"I screwed this one up," Gorman told The Charlotte Observer.

Gorman says he meant that the staffer should go through the necessary steps for reviewing the book.

In the memo banning the book, district officials said the book "focuses on homosexuality" and provides no vital information to primary students. "We did not believe the book would stimulate growth in ethical standards, and the book is too controversial," the memo stated.

The American Library Association criticized Charlotte-Mecklenburg school officials for not giving the book an open, balanced review.

"One parent's decision shouldn't dictate whether or not the book is available to all the other families in the community," said Deborah Caldwell-Stone, a deputy director for the association's Freedom to Read Foundation.

"Any challenge to a book is ultimately an attempt to remove an idea from public discourse," she said.

Mecklenburg County Commissioner Bill James, a Republican, had e-mailed Gorman to see if the district had the book.

"I am opposed to any book that promotes a homosexual lifestyle to elementary school students as normal," he said.

Parents seem split on the subject. Tory Holding said alternative lifestyles are something that shouldn’t be addressed at school.

“This is a subject that parents should tackle at home, in the privacy of their own homes,” Holding said.

While Kim Clements approves of the book.

“It seems sweet. It seems like somebody probably needs this book,” she said.

Gorman said he is meeting with staffers to review the policy for banning books. They will also discuss what needs to happen next with "And Tango Makes Three".

District spokeswoman Nora Carr said the last book to be banned from Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools was "Be Safe About Sex" more than 10 years ago under Superintendent John Murphy.

“And Tango Makes Three” can still be checked out at Charlotte-Mecklenburg public libraries. Library staff said they’ve only received one notice of concern from a parent. They reviewed the book and decided to keep it on shelves.