Legal opinion read at the beginning of the discussion of This Boy's Life at the February 9, 2004, board meeting.
"The board has consulted with legal counsel so that we can be properly advised as to our legal duties in this matter. We have learned that the United States District Court for the District of Kansas has decided a case filed against a neighboring school district that involved a similar issue. The Blue Valley School District is bound to abide by that decision. According to that case, while board members have considerable discretion in deciding which educational resources may or may not be utilized, there is a legal limitation to their discretion.
Board members generally may not vote to remove a book where the decisive factor in that decision is a board member's personal disagreement with the ideas contained in the book. Likewise, the occasional use of profanity in a book is not, in and of itself, sufficient to justify the removal of a book if it is otherwise educationally suitable in light of, among other factors, the ages of the students who are expected to read the book. Board members are permitted to vote in favor of the removal of a book if they have a legitimate belief that the book is not educationally suitable."
