The Zeeland (Mich.) board of education has declined to discuss an executive order from District Superintendent Gary Feenstra requiring parental permission for students in grades 5–8 to check out J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series of books from the school library. President Tom Bock offered the board a chance to add the issue to the agenda at its February 21 meeting—a step that would have opened Feenstra’s decision to official review—but no member spoke in favor of including it.
The meeting was attended by approximately 100 citizens, about 25 of whom spoke on the controversy. The February 23 Chicago Tribune reported that slightly more than half of those speakers were against Feenstra’s directive. The paper quoted Zeeland resident Mary Van Harn as saying, “I’m here to ask that this board free Harry Potter. I could use those books to teach Sunday school. They’re filled with role models.”
According to the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom, the Harry Potter books were the subject of more challenges over their appropriateness for children than any other books in 1999.
Posted February 28, 2000.