Committee Weighing Recommendation for Challenged 'Beloved' Book

Plymouth-Canton Community Schools' concluded Tuesday evening, but a recommendation to Superintendent Jeremy Hughes from the review committee won't come until Friday.

Erin MacGregor, who moderated the review process, said in an email today to Patch that "the committee concluded its deliberations yesterday evening and is in the process of voting." 

The district, he said, will communicate the recommendation to the public Friday.

During the review process, the district sought input from a panel that included parents, teachers, librarians, a college professor and administrators.

Salem High School parents Matt and Barb Dame, who have a daughter enrolled in AP English Literature at the school, challenged Beloved, in December. Hughes immediately removed Waterland from the classroom.

The Dames had objected to what they said was gratuitous violence and sexual themes throughout both books. A , Parents & Community Activists for PCCS, or P-CAP, has detailed its objections to the material on its website, which is registered to Matt Dame.

Facing some backlash from parents, students and teachers, Hughes later agreed to , although that book still remains out of the classroom.

The story of the challenged books has made headlines outside of the district, too. The Huffington Post, Wall Street Journal, New York Daily News, book-publishing blog GalleyCat and Michigan Radio have all tackled the debate in Plymouth-Canton in recent reports and blog entries.

Both the Dames and the district's AP English Literature teachers at the during the first part of the review process for Beloved.

Follow this story as it develops here on Plymouth and Canton Patch.

This story was updated at 4:06 p.m. on Jan. 18 to include comment from administrator Erin MacGregor.