By KEVIN CHIRI
Slidell news bureau
SLIDELL – Even as the passage of any taxing issues in front of the public has become much more challenging in St. Tammany Parish the last 10 years, the idea of supporting the public library would probably have rated among those topics that used to get great support.
However, the past three years of controversy the St. Tammany Library Board of Control (LBOC) has endured has made that question very different today.
But after a suggestion from Superintendent Frankie Jabbia to write a companion guide that would be taught within the course, bringing balance to the information presented, Hirstius adjusted her position and agreed. The full School Board meeting last Thursday night led to a vote to approve the curriculum package as a whole, which includes a companion guide to be written for that chapter. Hirstius will be one of the committee members.
Dr. Melissa Langlois, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction with the school system, said the AP Psychology course is not required for students, but is optional to earn college credit. Students can also take a regular Psychology course as early as their junior year in high school.
Psychology textbooks are aligned to the National Standards for High School Psychology Curricula from the American Psychological Association. The books have content standards that teach topics about gender and sexual orientation.
All books that the School Board considers for the new year are available for public review for seven weeks at eight area high schools, as well as two of the School Board administrative centers. Many books are also available online to be reviewed.
Once the school system receives comments and feedback from parents or others, the ultimate decision for what textbooks to use is made by teachers who vote for them, leading to the School Board putting the final stamp of approval on the books.
Langlois explained at the first meeting that even though the school system has a list of recommended books from the state for the Psychology courses, “all of the books have this same information.”
The AP Psychology books have a small section in the “Gender Development” chapter that discusses the topic of transgender individuals. It states, “a person may feel like a man in a woman’s body, or a woman in a man’s body.” There is no mention of the fact a large percentage of Americans do not believe people are born in the wrong body.
Hirstius was unhappy with the general information since she believed that suggested it was a fact that some people are born in the wrong body and therefore need to undergo sex change operations.
“I don’t believe God makes mistakes,” she stated.
One other School Board member, Dr. Michael Peterson, said during the meeting that he also had a problem with some of the information since, “they are portraying it as scientific information that is not even validated. I appreciate your concern,” he said to Hirstius.
However, in the end, the School Board voted to approve the new curriculum, and Hirstius said, “I think the guide will accomplish what I wanted it to do—give both sides of this story.”
She especially was concerned that there was no mention in the chapter of the increased issues with depression, anxiety and suicide that transgender individuals deal with. One survey that Hirstius pointed out said that those who change their sex are 12 times more likely to commit suicide later in life.
The section on transgenderism states there are “multiple gender identities” and that some children suffer “distress” due to what they believe to be the difference in the sex they were assigned at birth, and what they think their gender identity should be. While supporters of sex change operations believe the answer is to go through the surgery, several church leaders believe that counseling over time will help the individual become comfortable with the issue.
Hirstius said that while she was happy with the final vote on the companion guide, she was more concerned that the School Board is continuing to spend millions of dollars on new textbooks when the U.S. Department of Education is being dismantled by President Donald Trump.
“We shouldn’t even be spending this money right now since we don’t know what the future is going to be,” she said. “We may spend all this money this year and then the books are not of any use a year later. We should have our own curriculum people write something to get us through the year using the books we have, then see what happens with this change.”
When voters go to the polls this Saturday, March 29, and are asked to renew the millage for the public library system, it is clear that questions remain about whether the former support for libraries is still there.
That is because the library system found itself in the middle of a heated debate in June of 2022 when several parish mothers discovered dozens of sexually explicit books available to minors throughout the 12 library branches.
That issue might have quickly disappeared had it not been for a far-left Library Board that began to fight against restricting the books behind the counters. For the past three years the controversy has gone on until the last few months when Library Director Kelly LaRocca created a “New Adult” section in the libraries where the books were slowly moved to. The New Adult section is off limits to kids, even though the shelving is still in the open areas of the library.
LaRocca agreed to add an extra layer of supervision to the New Adult section so minors couldn’t wander in there when she recently announced a new directive to employees to assign one worker to check the section at least once an hour.
While that finally provided the most substantial restrictions to the books, many that are highly explicit detailed text involving all manner of gay and straight sex, critics of the library system have been on a campaign to have the millage defeated.
When voters go to the polls this Saturday, they will be looking at a reduced library millage from a year ago, however, it still brings in approximately $13 million a year. Without the millage, libraries would eventually close since the taxpayer funding provides approximately 96 percent of the monies needed to keep the doors open.
LaRocca has been making the rounds to public meetings to urge support for the millage, but she has encountered hostile crowds, such as the recent East St. Tammany Republican Women meeting when she had to answer a host of challenging questions about the books, their location in the libraries, and why the library system ever felt a need to purchase those kinds of books in the first place.
Bridgett Bennett, president of the group, asked LaRocca why it took over two years for “conservatives to finally be heard on this issue when we have had a huge problem with it. I’ve seen some of these books and it is porn, really insane. If it was on my home computer, I could be arrested for having it. So why is it even in our libraries?”
LaRocca has pointed out that libraries are still being used at a high level, despite some critics noting libraries are not needed as much anymore due to so much information available on the Internet.
In 2024, more than a million items were checked out, including 420,497 virtual items like e-books and audiobooks, and over 600,000 people visited a library, LaRocca said.
The 4.35-mill tax the library seeks would bring in around $13.5 million annually, reduced by the board and Parish Council from last year when they had a 5.78-mill tax. For the owner of a $300,000 home, the tax would cost about $98 a year.
“Your library is an excellent investment. A recent economic impact study showed that for every dollar invested in the St. Tammany Library system, the library returns $1.65,” LaRocca said. “We are asking for $3 million less next year since we have completed capital projects, paid off bonds and collected what is needed for our remaining projects.”
LaRocca also pointed out that starting in 2022, she created a new Tiered Juvenile Card System to ensure parents are approving what kids can check out; the Library Board restricted graphic novels in 2023; halted the purchase of books for children or teens that have sexual conduct; and moved sexually explicit books to a New Adult section that is off limits for minors.
While many business and public organizations have expressed support for the sales tax rededication issue, none of the major organizations have publicly weighed in to support the library tax.
Parish Councilman David Cougle, who headed the effort to have the sexually explicit books restricted right after they were discovered, was not a public official at that time. He later ran for the Parish Council with a promise to get the problem taken care of.
While public officials are not allowed to advocate or oppose public tax measures, he did have this comment on the millage vote.
“Should the millage pass, I believe it will largely be due to those on the council, and their supporters in the community, that responded to the community’s demands and accomplished the monumental task of appointing a new LBOC last May,” he said.
“I believe Saturday’s vote will come down to whether the taxpayers believe the new LBOC has or will sufficiently address their concerns about the safety of children and proper and efficient use of tax dollars,” he added.
