EGUSD Trustee Chaires-Espinoza defends school librarians against ‘grooming’ accusations, clarifies their authority

During the Tuesday, October 17, 2023, Elk Grove Unified School District meeting, Trustee Nancy Chaires-Espinoza defended district school librarians. For over one year, many people have accused the librarians of placing books they find objectionable in schools with the intent of “grooming” them for sexual exploitation.

During this time, Chaires-Espinoza and other trustees have remained mostly silent on the accusations by parents who made remarks during public comments and on social media. With a lengthy discussion of the district’s school library media policy, Chaires-Espinoza took the opportunity to address the accusations.

Chaires-Espinoza also attempted to clarify what she said were mischaracterizations of the school librarian’s administrative authority. Several people have asserted they are given carte blanch for book approval.

A subcommittee of three trustees, including Chaires-Espinoza, Carmine Forcina, and Michael Vargas, provided oversight and input on the development of the policy, which will be approved on November 7. Although the policy will be adopted, Forcina issued a dissenting report and accused Chaires-Espinoza of lying during their subcommittee proceedings.

See Chaires-Espinoza’s defense and clarification of school librarians’ authority in the video.