Hudson mayor wants school board to resign for sexually explicit content in high school class

HUDSON, Ohio (WOIO) - This story from right here in Northeast Ohio is making headlines nationwide.

Hudson’s mayor is calling for the entire school board to resign, or he’s threatening to have them criminally charged.

It’s all over a book containing sexually explicit content that’s being used in high school for college credit.

But while many parents in the district are outraged and disgusted by this, others in the community are urging the mayor and the district to have a lesson in patience until more information can be learned.

Jamie Blair of Stow says ordering the school board to resign is premature, “Maybe they should take a step back and just re-evaluate the situation. I do believe it’s something the parents should review and know about. Everything is so touchy nowadays; sexually explicit is such a big range of things.”

The controversy first surfaced at Monday’s school board meeting.

School district administrators said it was on Sept. 10 when they were made aware of a resource called “642 Things to Write About” that they use for college-level courses that contained content inappropriate in a high school setting.

Hudson’s Mayor Craig Shubert lashed out at the meeting, saying, “It has come to my attention that your educators are distributing what is essentially child pornography in the classroom. I’ve spoken with the judge this evening; she’s already confirmed that. So, I’m going to give you a simple choice. You either choose to resign from this Board of Education, or you will be charged.”

Several parents and a student no longer a minor -- called the material disgusting and inappropriate.

Meredith Judson, who talked about the book received in the CCP class and movies she was shown when she was a minor child, said, “We were watching movies that were rated R that showed very sexual scenes and explicit content.”

A man who lives on Edgeview Drive said, “642 Reasons was disgusting. Absolutely disgusting. One of the questions they wanted people to write on was to explain a time when you wanted to orgasm but couldn’t?”

The Hudson School District tells 19 News they have since collected the books and discontinued their use and issued a statement to 19 News saying in part, “… the Board of Education will be ensuring a thorough investigation and process review has taken place and will utilize the results of the investigation to determine any necessary actions to be taken. While we respect the Mayor’s position… At this time, no Board of Education member has indicated any intention to resign.” any intention to resign.”

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