Educator’s firing over ‘I Need a New Butt’ book upheld by Mississippi school board
.jpeg "A Mississippi school district has upheld its decision to fire former assistant principal Toby Price for reading the “I Need a New Butt” book to a group of students in March.")
Members of a Mississippi school board voted to uphold the firing of an assistant principal over a “problematic” and “inappropriate” children’s book read to students earlier this year.
Toby Price, a former assistant principal at Gary Road Elementary School in Byram, found himself out a job after he read a book titled “I Need a New Butt” to a group of second graders at an event in March, McClatchy News reported. Now, he plans to sue for wrongful termination.
“We expected this part to happen, but at the same time, it doesn’t make it any easier,” Price told The Washington Post, saying he’ll take the issue to the state’s Chancery Courts next. “It still stings.”
Price appealed his firing, though his efforts were shot down by the Hinds County School Board on April 28, according to a report obtained by McClatchy News.
The board upheld the district superintendent’s decision, citing “poor judgment” and a lack of professionalism on Price’s part, the ruling shows. Two members voted yes, two abstained, and one voted no.
“It is the opinion of the Board that Mr. Price’s contract should be terminated due to his incompetence, neglect of duty and for good cause,” board members wrote.
In the ruling, members also said Price violated the Mississippi Educator Code of Ethics’ standards of professionalism and “age appropriate instruction” when he chose a book about a boy in search of a new butt for a virtual reading to students at a Read Across America event. They pointed to pictures of child and adult nudity featured in the book, including pages showing bare rumps and a “screw being ejected from the child’s bottom.”
Price stepped in to read when the scheduled reader didn’t show up and grabbed the “butt” book from his office, he wrote in a poem detailing the events of that day. The 32-page picture book is written by New Zealand author Dawn McMillan and has a suggested reading age of 3 to 7 years old, according to Amazon.com
“A young boy suddenly notices a big problem — his butt has a huge crack! So he sets off to find a new one,” a summary of the book says. “Will he choose an armor-plated butt? A rocket butt? ... Find out in this quirky tale of a tail.”
The virtual reading “filled with humor, farts and fun” ended with Price being suspended, then fired. He said he’s worried about what impact the board’s decision will have on teachers who could be fired “at the drop of a hat.”
“If somebody can fire you just because they didn’t like the book you read, that’s kind of scary,” Price told McClatchy News in an interview. “I think a lot of folks would rather be careful than take risks that could be rewarding. I’m cautiously optimistic, but I hope teachers won’t be afraid.”
He has since written and released his own children’s book titled, “The Almost True Adventures of Tytus the Monkey,” that’s doing so well, the publisher has already asked for a sequel, he said.
The Mississippi educator said he will continue fighting to get his job back, adding that kids will always need silly, funny books.
“You give them the silly books, and they’ll hang around long enough to see all the other cool things that books can be,” Price said.
Byram is about 10 miles southwest of Jackson.
This story was originally published May 13, 2022 at 2:33 PM with the headline "Educator’s firing over ‘I Need a New Butt’ book upheld by Mississippi school board."