A graphic novel that centers on a family’s struggle with substance abuse will remain in a Midlands elementary school after the school board rejected a parent’s request to restrict access to the book.
The Lexington-Richland 5 school board voted narrowly Monday night to keep “Sunny Side Up” on library shelves in the district after a mother asked that the book be restricted by grade level and require a parent or guardian’s permission before it could be checked out.
Board members Scott Herring, Mike Satterfield, Kevin Scully and Kimberly Snipes voted to keep the middle-grade fiction book unrestricted, while Elizabeth Barnhardt, Jason Baynham and Catherine Huddle voted against the motion. That vote followed the 4-3 failure of a different measure that would have restricted student access to “Sunny Side Up,” with the same breakdown in board members’ votes…