The award winning book "And Tango Makes Three" is available to parents and teachers in Loudoun's Elementary Schools and is available to students in our middle and high schools. E-mails from around the country have been coming into the Superintendents office about this issue this week and the overwhelming majority are in support of Dr. Hatrick's decision to restrict access to teachers and parents at the elementary schools. I read the book on President's Day and found it to be a cute little story and very well illustrated, but as a parent, I would prefer to read the book with my children if they were in elementary school. Why, because the book subtly promotes acceptance of a lifestyle that most five to ten year old students wouldn’t understand.

Even the "Weekly Poll" run by the Loudoun Times Mirror misstates the facts. Their question reads: “Do you think the Loudoun school system did the right thing when it pulled a book about two male penguins raising a chick from its book shelves?”

The results would be a lot different if the question read: “Do you think the Loudoun school system did the right thing when it pulled a book from elementary school libraries about two male penguins raising a chick, but allowed parents and teachers to check it out?” 

The School Board's Legislative/Policy Committee will discuss on March 4th the policies that created this controversy, but I do not expect any action by the School Board to reverse the Superintendent’s decision. I am reviewing similar policies from around the Commonwealth and from around the country to find the best solution. Oh, the award the book received was the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Henry Bergh Award Before you post to this blog; I hope you’ll take the time to read “And Tango Makes Three”.