SUN: ‘Flamer’ to remain on shelves at Harford schools as judge reaffirms state decision

HARFORD COUNTY, MD. (WBFF) — The yearlong battle about whether “Flamer” should be removed from Harford County Public Schools libraries is over as a judge reaffirmed a decision by the state’s Board of Education to keep the book on the shelves.

Harford County Circuit Court Judge Yolanda Curtin read her decision Thursday in which she disagreed with Harford’s Board of Education’s decision to overturn the school system’s Library Reconsideration Materials Committee approval of the book for middle and high school students, adding that board members substituted the decision with their personal views, rather than deciding whether the book’s approval was arbitrary, unreasonable or illegal.

She added that the reconsideration committee went through an extensive process in alignment with the school system’s policies and procedures, such as everyone on the committee reading the book, whereas the local board “failed to critically analyze the book.”

During a hearing, before Curtin revealed her decision, she questioned the school board’s representation, Gregory Szoka, on how only a few people on the board read the book, while others analyzed chunks of it, then went on to make a decision on something not everyone fully understood.

Read the full story on the Baltimore Sun.