The Aug. 9 Northampton Area School District Board of Education meeting was dominated by continued discussion regarding a donation of some 36 books from The Conscious Kid Foundation.

The donation was on the July 16 NASD school board meeting agenda, which was attended by an estimated 45 parents and district residents, the majority of whom criticized the donation. The school board voted July 16 to table action on accepting the donation.

Rows of extra chairs were placed in the cafeteria of Northampton Area Middle School to accommodate the extra turnout of nearly 60 parents and community members at the Aug. 9 meeting.

The original request for the books from The Conscious Kid was made by Jessica A. Quinones, George Wolf Elementary School kindergarten teacher, who spoke at the board meeting Aug. 9.

“Apparently, I started this huge mess,” Quinones said. “Unfortunately, for me, the books have set off a misunderstanding. We, as teachers, teach what we are supposed to teach.”

NASD Superintendent of Schools Joseph Kovalchik told her there was no need to apologize.

It was noted the books in question have been in the schools since January. Quinones said she was looking online for books for students and found the link for The Conscious Kid Foundation, which offered the books for free.

Quinones emailed the foundation back in July 2020. The books arrived in January 2021.

“This whole thing started as a very innocent donation to provide our staff and students with resources to expand their knowledge,” George Wolf Principal Stephen Serensits said.

He had brought The Conscious Kid donated books to the NASD Curriculum Committee for review.

The Aug. 9 meeting included about 30 minutes of comments by residents. Discussion was limited to four minutes per person.

“The big misrepresentation that I’ve read is that they focus on the books,” said Kim Bretzik, of Moore Township. “This is not about the books. Virtually all of the books were on the shelves at schools, including George Wolf. We did not ask you to ban books.

“Conscious Kid supports Marxist teaching,” Bretzik said. “It was not about the books. It was about the organization and creating an affiliation between the school district and that organization.”

“It has to do with who’s donating the books and why,” Doug Vaughn, of Lehigh Township, added.

“I took it upon myself to read everything about The Conscious Kid organization,” school Director Robert Mentzell said. “I didn’t find any reference to Marxism in The Conscious Kid organization.”

Following the comment portion, the board of education voted 7-0 to approve a statement by Mentzell.

“I’d like to make a recommendation to the administration to pursue those resources, which include the books mentioned on the July 19 agenda, plus other similar resources,” Mentzell said.

The motion to approve the statement was made by Director Dr. Michael Baird and seconded by Director Ross Makary.

When asked why he made the recommendation, Mentzell said, “I want our kids to have the necessary resources in their education.”

Mentzell said 30 of the books in question are already on the shelves of libraries in district schools. The books were not to be required reading.

The NASD administration was instructed by the board of education to pursue resources for diversity. The vote to pursue resources happened after NASD school board President David Gogel read a detailed district policy statement concerning the donation of books to the district.

“We’re not accepting the books but are to go out and address diversity,” Kovalchik told the audience at the Aug. 9 board of education meeting.

In other business, the July 27 resignation letter submitted by Jennifer Johnson from the NASD school board, effective July 30, was accepted 7-0.

“I’d like to thank Mrs. Johnson for the time she spent on the Northampton Area School District Board of Education,” Kovalchik said.

Johnson was appointed until the school board reorganization meeting Dec. 6, filling the unexpired term of Chuck Longacre, whose resignation was accepted April 12. Johnson’s first school board meeting was May 10.

The vacancy was to have been posted on the NASD website Aug. 10.

“Mrs. Johnson wants to have more time with her children and also pursue her own education,” Gogel said.

The NASD Board of Education is next scheduled to meet 6:30 p.m. Aug. 23 in the NAMS cafeteria, 1617 Laubach Ave., Northampton.