An assistant principal in Byram, Mississippi is out of a job after he was fired last week––for reading a children’s book. Toby Price, an educator for over 20 years, sat down to read I Need a New Butt to a second grade class at Gary Road Elementary School, which should have been a fun activity; but it all went wrong.
Price, who has worked at the school for three years, was asked to step in for the principal over a Zoom class to read a book, according to NBC News. So, he grabbed the closest one, I Need a New Butt, a story he’s read to students plenty of times before. But when the reading concluded, Price was sent to the principal’s office, much akin to a student in trouble.
Once there, he was told parents might complain and that he needed to head to the district office, where he was sent home on administrative leave. Soon after, Price received a termination letter from the school district citing “a lack of professionalism and impaired judgment” because he chose a book that used the words “butt” and “fart.” The cartoon images of a child’s butt were further reason the story didn’t go over well.
Price, who’s never had any disciplinary action in his career in education, was shocked at the reaction. He shares in a video with WLBT that I Need a New Butt is a “funny, silly book” and that there are many more books with questionable material that are just as widely accepted.
As bystanders, we have to wonder if anyone working at the school district is a parent. All you need is one afternoon with a kid of any age to see that “butt” humor is pretty much non-negotiable.
Like Price says, “if you don’t let kids see funny and silly books, they’re not gonna stick around long enough to find out that that books can be anything other than funny and silly. You have to hook them with the funny and silly stuff and that’s what I’ve always done. That’s what this book was for.”
The former assistant principal plans to contest his termination at a hearing on Mar. 21. If you want a copy of the hilarious book by Dawn McMillan, head over to Amazon where you can order it yourself.
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