OCEAN PINES, Md. - In the ongoing Worcester County Board of Education election for District 5 in Ocean Pines, Dorothy Shelton-Leslie remains firmly in the lead with 631 votes, with Elena McComas following closely behind with 561 votes and John Huber trailing in third with 236 votes.
"I want to thank all the voters, obviously. And hopefully we will get through step one so we can get to step two," Shelton-Leslie said, expressing gratitude for the support she has received. Excited by her position at the top, Shelton-Leslie is enthusiastic about the prospect of making significant changes in public school libraries if elected to the school board.
Shelton-Leslie, the lead candidate, has been vocal about one of her key campaign issues: regulating the selection of books in public school libraries. Advocating for a more conservative approach, she proposes the creation of a closed-off section within school libraries to house books on topics such as queer theory and sexuality. "I'm the conservative voice in this group," Shelton-Leslie stated. "And I stand for not having books in libraries that are not appropriate for the age in which they exist."
Shelton-Leslie's proposal entails restricting access to this section only to students with parental permission. With parents expressing concerns to Shelton-Leslie about the current selection of books in school libraries, she plans to prioritize this issue if elected and hopes for continued support from voters.
However, what looks to be her opponent in the upcoming general election, Elena McComas, acknowledges the limitations of the local school board's authority in implementing such changes. "The state legislature has taken most of our decision making out of our hands and into theirs. We have a state-mandated curriculum. We cannot change it," McComas explained.
McComas aims to inform the public about existing options on the public school library website that allow parents to regulate which books their children can access. With both Shelton-Leslie and McComas significantly ahead of John Huber in the primaries, they seem to be facing off in the general election this November.