A Second Sport. A Different Coach. The Same Troubling Allegations.
By Heath Gilbert Cameron School District Exposed February 2026
In November 2025, the Cameron community sat through nearly four hours of sworn testimony at a special school board meeting. Much of that testimony centered on a district employee serving as a coach and the allegations brought forward by parents, a student, and staff about that individual’s conduct. We heard accounts of profanity being directed at students. We heard about punishments that reportedly left blisters on children’s hands. We heard a mother testify that a coach told her child, in his capacity as a school employee, “You are the fucking reason we are losing this fucking game.” We heard a student describe what they experienced. We heard that multiple parents and staff had complained about this coach’s behavior, and that those complaints went nowhere.
The board retained that coach. You can read our coverage of that hearing and its aftermath here and here.
Now, a parent from a different sport has come forward with new allegations that are disturbingly familiar.
A Parent Reaches Out
This is not a continuation of what we reported in November 2025. This is a new parent, a different sport, and a different coach—with allegations that echo what we’ve already heard.
A parent whose children have participated in district athletic programs recently contacted this publication with concerns about what they describe as a pattern of verbal abuse, unsafe coaching practices, and a culture that has driven their children out of a sport they loved.
One of their children, a former state qualifier, quit one team last year. Another has since quit as well, with yet another on the verge. The reason, according to this parent, is the conduct of a coach.
This parent did not come to us first. They went to the district. They sent an email to district administration and coaching staff outlining their concerns. A meeting was held.
The result, as this parent described it: the coaches denied the allegations, the kids maintained they were true, and the district treated it as one side’s word against the other. If that sounds familiar, it’s because it’s exactly what happened in November—adults denied, children insisted, and the district sided with the adults.
It raises questions about how the district investigated these allegations. Did administrators attend practices to observe firsthand? Did they speak with other students or parents on the team? At the November hearing, we heard testimony from a parent whose child was pulled into an office and interrogated as a witness—without the parent being notified. Did the district take that approach here? Or do they reserve that tactic for situations involving staff they want to get rid of?
What This Parent Alleges
The allegations are serious. According to this parent:
Verbal abuse and profanity. This parent alleges that a coach regularly directs profanity at student athletes—not the motivational kind that might be debated, but demeaning language. They draw a clear distinction between a coach saying “let’s see some hustle” with a profanity attached and a coach telling children they are “fucking worthless.” They allege the latter is what their children experienced. They further allege that team captains—upperclassmen—are permitted by coaching staff to speak to younger team members in the same demeaning manner. If true, this would be a clear violation of district policy. We know from the November hearing that staff are required to immediately report bullying—not ignore it, and certainly not encourage it.
Unsafe physical practices. This parent, who works in healthcare, alleges that coaching staff have subjected student athletes to physically dangerous training conditions. They allege that children have been pushed to practice and compete while injured, fatigued, and in conditions that no reasonable adult should allow. They question whether these practices will result in long-term harm to their children’s health.
Collective punishment. This parent reports that if any member of the team has a failing grade, the entire team is forced to run additional drills after practice—not just the students with failing grades, but every member of the team. If true, punishing an entire team for the actions of one individual arguably creates an environment where the students who were unjustly punished would consider retaliation—bullying—against the person they blame for their punishment. A coaching staff that claims to be mentoring young people should understand that dynamic.
Retaliation culture. Perhaps most telling is what this parent said about why more parents haven’t come forward. They describe the parent group as split: some so loyal to the district they refuse to see the problems, and others too afraid of retaliation against their children. One of their own children, a student nearing graduation, refused to attend the meeting with the district because they feared it would jeopardize their academic program. A student close to finishing high school, afraid to advocate for themselves because they believe the adults in charge of their education will punish them for it.
This parent told us they have repeatedly gone to the district over the years about various concerns and has been told they are “trying to raise their kids in a world that doesn’t exist anymore.”
A Familiar Pattern
If any of this sounds familiar, it should.
At the November 2025 hearing, parents, a student, and staff testified about a coach in a different sport using profanity directed at students. They testified about punishments that went too far. A student described what they experienced firsthand. Multiple parents and staff had filed complaints—and those complaints were ignored. The board heard all of this under oath—and retained that coach.
Now we have a parent alleging a different coach in a different sport is engaging in strikingly similar conduct: profanity directed at children, dangerous physical practices, a culture of intimidation, and a district that, when confronted, treats the children’s accounts as less credible than the adults’.
These aren’t isolated incidents. This is a pattern.
Parents Discouraged, Accountability Diminished
According to this parent, parents are discouraged from attending practices. After the meeting with the district, the district responded to say they would remind staff that parents are welcome to watch their children practice.
When parents are discouraged from attending practices, it creates an environment where, if these allegations are true, there are no witnesses other than the coaches and the students. It becomes, as this parent described the meeting with the district, the kids’ word against the coaches’. And the coaches, unsurprisingly, deny everything.
When the only people who can verify what happens are the people accused of wrongdoing and the children who fear retaliation for speaking up, accountability becomes nearly impossible. And if you’ve followed our coverage of the Cameron R-1 School District for any length of time, you already know that transparency and accountability are not exactly their strong suits.
What Needs to Happen
The Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) has oversight of high school athletics in this state. Parents can and should contact MSHSAA directly when they believe their children are being subjected to unsafe or abusive coaching practices. MSHSAA can be reached by email at email@mshsaa.org or by phone at (573) 875-4880. The Cameron School District cannot control that process the way they can control a meeting in their own conference room.
Additionally, Missouri law provides a mechanism for reporting safety concerns involving students. The Missouri State Highway Patrol operates the Courage2Report hotline, which can be used to report bullying, unsafe conditions, and other concerns involving students. It creates an official record that the district is required to respond to. That record matters, because without documentation, the district’s preferred approach—deny, minimize, and move on—is far too easy.
The Question Cameron Needs to Ask
The Cameron R-1 School District’s motto is “Educating and empowering students to reach their full potential.” Their vision statement promises “an exceptional, educational experience.” Is this what reaching their full potential looks like? Is this an exceptional educational experience? Children afraid to speak up? Parents afraid to advocate? Student athletes subjected to unsafe conditions and verbal abuse?
A parent with broad shoulders says they’re willing to bear the weight to protect their children. They shouldn’t have to. That’s supposed to be the district’s job.
What is going on in the Cameron School District?
If you are a parent with concerns about coaching practices or bullying in the Cameron School District, you can contact MSHSAA directly at email@mshsaa.org or (573) 875-4880. You can also report bullying, unsafe conditions, and other concerns through the Courage2Report Missouri hotline. Both create records that the district cannot sweep under the rug.
Cameron School District Exposed does not publish the names of parents or students. If you have information you’d like to share, you can reach us through our website or social media pages.
It was another big week for the Cameron R-1 School District, but not in a good way. During a 4-hour appeal hearing for a Cameron Veterans Middle School teacher who claims she is being wrongfully terminated, we heard a lot of testimony. One of those who testified was of particular interest to us, mother and Cameron High School librarian Tonya O’Boyle. She was rightfully concerned that her son was exposed to sexually explicit and vulgar language while on the high school football team. Watch the video, and then let’s discuss why this is of interest. Content warning, there is graphic descriptive language in this video.
Allegations Made by O’Boyle
Mrs. O’Boyle claims that during an “extra-curricular activity” at school events, she has personally witnessed the use of foul language on school grounds. She says she has been to events where vulgar music was played as part of those school events. Mrs. O’Boyle stated that the vulgar language she overheard was “student choice” and included the “N-word.” Her stated concern for the choice in that music was: “Promoted as a family event. There were toddlers there. There were grandparents there.”
When asked if there were other school-sponsored events where she witnessed foul language being used ,she responded, “Yes.” She confirmed it happened during this current semester. She heard the coach, another school district employee, use those foul words which were directed at her child. When asked what was said, she responded, “You are the fucking reason we are losing this fucking game.”
Why This Testimony is of Interest
This website was started in part because of our fight with the Cameron R-1 School District relating to the extensive collection of vulgar and explicit books found in Mrs. O’Boyle’s high school library. You can find a partial list of those books on our Dirty Book List page.
During O’Boyle’s time as the librarian at the high school, a vast majority of those books were added to her library. According to district policy and public records requests, she added the majority of those books. Just two of the books on that list, The Hate U Give and Juliet Takes a Breath include the F-word 198 times. The book Juliet Takes a Breath is one you can see her receiving in an unboxing video she posted to her personal social media account. It uses that word she didn’t like 100 times.
The Books Get Far Worse Than Just Using Profanity
Many of those books on the Dirty Book List for the Cameron High School include graphic, sexually explicit descriptions. If Mrs. O’Boyle takes issue with her child hearing two vulgar words at football practice and functions, surely she would also be opposed to graphic descriptions of incest and pedophilia. The book Identical, found in her library, includes both pedophilia and incest. Passages from that book were read to the Cameron R-1 School District’s Board of Education at a previous board meeting. Extreme content warning in that video, but HERE is the link.
Why are the Words Wrong but Books Acceptable?
That’s the million dollar question. If vulgar words used in the presence of high school children are immoral and socially taboo, why then are all of these graphic books available for the same high school kids to read? Mrs. O’Boyle, please explain it for me. Why are you willing to hand my children and my neighbors’ children that book which uses the word you don’t like 100 times? You wrote an essay to get that book donated to the school. Now that your child has been exposed to such language, have you changed your opinion on the books in your library? Help me, help all of us, to understand the hypocrisy between your anger at your child being exposed to these words while you hand our children books with far more graphic content.
An Open Letter to the Cameron School Board
On Thursday night, we heard multiple accounts from mothers, a father, and school teachers about how upset they were about the language used by your staff member in his capacity as football coach. They are right – it was wrong and is a violation of policy. Why, then, do you fire one staff member for using inappropriate language while you protect the other? If it is wrong for a staff member to use a single vulgar word around students, especially when that language is directed at a student, how is it acceptable to put books in that same child’s hand that have dozens or hundreds of those profane words? And if a single profane word is not acceptable, how on earth are graphic descriptions of pedophilia and incest acceptable? Let me say the thing you don’t have the courage to say. It isn’t acceptable.
Final Closing Thoughts About Thursday’s Hearing
The district has a serious transparency and accountability issue. This book topic is one of the many glaring, self-imposed black eyes the Cameron School District received on Thursday night. There are serious problems at the district and in the leadership at the central office. There needs to be a full investigation revolving around the accusations made that night. Someone also needs to look into why your administrators couldn’t answer the questions from the respondent’s lawyers. “I do not know” is not an acceptable answer to those questions from top-tier administrators.
The Cameron R-1 school district has been fully embroiled in a book controversy with concerned parents and taxpayers over library books with content described as “adult” and “sexually explicit” since February 2023. During all these months since the first books were found, the Cameron R-1 school district has honored Missouri Sunshine Law requests and allowed inspection of library books and curriculum materials on school property. The school district now appears to refuse to allow further inspections and has provided instructions to instead go to a public library.
Recently, I was forwarded an email dated August 14 that originated from the Cameron school district. This email was in response to a verbal request to inspect books inside the Cameron High School library. Originally, a high school administrator had agreed to allow Landi access to the library on a day when no staff or students would be present. As you can see in this screenshot, the district seems to have indicated it will no longer comply with Missouri law and allow the inspection of books.
What laws allow inspections of these books?
First, the Missouri Sunshine Law, Missouri Revised Statutes Chapter 610, allows for the inspection of public records. Every one of our previous requests to inspect books required the Cameron school district to insist we submit a Sunshine Law request as a condition of being able to inspect those books. They complied with each records request and allowed us to inspect those books—until now.
Additionally, Missouri Revised Statute Section 170.231 specifically allows for inspection of curriculum materials. Arguably, any book that was used as part of classroom instruction and was required reading could be classified as “curriculum material.” Failure to allow the inspection of one of these books could potentially be a violation of this statute.
Consequences for failure to allow inspection of curriculum materials
Missouri Revised Statute Section 162.091 indicates that failure to comply with the inspection of curriculum materials could be considered a misdemeanor and punishable by a $500 fine OR imprisonment in county jail for up to one year.
This statute states: “Any county clerk, county treasurer, school board member, officer or employee, or other officer, who willfully neglects or refuses to perform any duty imposed upon him by chapters 160 to 168, 170, 171, 177 and 178, or who willfully violates any provision of these chapters, is guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction shall be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars or by imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed one year.”
Since the right to inspect curriculum materials is established under RSMo 170.231 (which falls under Chapter 170), any school official who “willfully neglects or refuses” to allow public inspection of curriculum materials as required by law would be committing a misdemeanor under Section 162.091.
What Cameron school district policies address sunshine law requests
According to Policy C-145-P: District Information and Records, the Cameron school district is obligated to comply with and fulfill Missouri Sunshine Law requests. The policy commits the district to ensuring public access to meetings, records, and votes as required by Missouri’s Sunshine Law, while recognizing that some records may be legally closed to the public.
This policy directly implements the district’s obligations under Missouri Revised Statutes Chapter 610 (the Missouri Sunshine Law) by establishing the framework for public records access and designating the responsible officials.
Considering the Cameron school district has treated all previous requests to inspect books and curriculum materials as Sunshine Law requests, refusal to allow additional requests to inspect books would appear to be a deliberate and willful act to ignore the law.
Policy C-105-P: District Rules and Guides
This policy broadly requires all staff to follow district rules, which include legal compliance:
- “All Board members, employees, students and patrons are required to follow the District’s rules and regulations.”
- “The Superintendent, administrators and District supervisors are required to implement and enforce District policies, the Administrative Manual, the Employee Manual, and the Student/Parent Handbook.”
Refusal to comply with policy or law is potentially a violation of the employment contract
In previous records requests, we had the opportunity to inspect a Cameron school district employee’s employment contract with the district. That contract required the then-school district employee to comply with all school district policy and laws. For a school district employee to knowingly not comply with board-approved policy or the law could be a violation of their contract and grounds for possible termination of their employment.
A superintendent instructing staff to not comply with Missouri law and district policy is problematic
As a general rule, the school superintendent is responsible for ensuring the law and district rules are both followed and enforced. He serves both the district and the community—their bosses—and should lead by example as he carries out that responsibility. To instruct staff to intentionally ignore school policy and state law is in itself a violation of policy.
The employees who are instructed to ignore requests to inspect books and curriculum are being set up for failure. They are caught between risking reprimand for ignoring the instructions of the superintendent or potentially violating the law. Regardless of which action the employee takes, they are risking possible job termination.
The school superintendent is supposed to lead by example. By instructing staff to violate law and policy he is creating a toxic work environment. It also undermines both respect and confidence of staff in the ability of their chief executive officer to be fair, impartial and unbiased.
Is it possible the intent of the district was misunderstood?
It’s possible, but I am highly skeptical. We have reached out for comment from the district and those details will follow. Reviewing the email, the text is quite specific.
After speaking with Dr. Robinson to verify up-to-date procedures, I was informed that we are no longer accommodating requests to come into the building to review books. If there are specific books that you have concerns with, please provide the list of titles to the district for the review committee to review. You are always welcome to visit the public library that is located at 312 N Chestnut St and review the books in person.
Had the district been willing to allow the inspection of books in other buildings, such as the central office, that would have been included in this email. There should also have been some instructions on submitting a records request. It wasn’t. The only mention of how to inspect physical books was a suggestion that Mr. Landi visit a public library. The intent behind this email appears to be that Mr. Landi can kick rocks. His days of trying to find and inform the district of sexually explicit books in its libraries are over.
What was his purpose behind inspecting the books
The district has been asked multiple times to police the books in their libraries for the arguably harmful content that isn’t appropriate for children. The school district refuses. Mr. Landi is among several concerned parents and taxpayers who have volunteered their time to identify books that contain sexually explicit content that may be harmful to minors. Because of the efforts of this group the district’s book review committee has identified and restricted more than 40 books. The district wouldn’t have known to review those books without his assistance. Those books and others he helped find are on our Cameron R-1 School’s Dirty Book List.
On the day he attended the district’s open house at the high school he was interested in getting a closer look at two books. One was a graphic novel by an author who has books restricted to adults only. The other he understood contained detailed descriptions of gang rape, murder, incest, explicit sex acts and necrophilia. Those don’t sound like very wholesome or family-values type reading. They should appreciate his efforts and welcome the free help from his group. Instead of being grateful for his assistance in protecting children from harmful material they’ve dismissed him. They told him to kick rocks.
What does the district have to say about this email and refusal to allow book inspections
We have submitted a request to Gina Bainum, the school district’s Communications Director, to ask for comment. We asked Mrs. Bainum the following: “Considering the school district required these book inspections occur through a Missouri Sunshine Law request, how does the school district justify the end of these inspections made through the Sunshine Law? Additionally, does this inspection refusal extend to books which are required reading in the classroom and mentioned on a class syllabus?”
Right before publishing this article, I heard back from the communications director in response to my request for comment. Mrs. Bainum had clarifying questions and indicated she wasn’t aware of the email sent to Mr. Landi. I have shared the screenshot from this article and am awaiting a response. If we receive any comment, this article will be updated.
For two and a half years, there has been a heated debate in Cameron, MO, over the books being provided to students with our tax dollars. In this article, we will explain why some people are so concerned. We will also share resources and explain how parents can research books and get a glimpse of their content to help you decide if you want your child to read them.
What exactly is in these books that has caused the uproar?
While the book fight is a national issue, we are going to concentrate on the books found in the Cameron R-1 schools. Our examples will be directed specifically to the CHS school and library, but the same steps can be applied to any school in almost any city or state.
While not all books found in the CHS library are as graphic, the most recent discovery is a perfect example of the content being promoted to children. The book Bag of Bones contains explicit descriptions of gang rape, incest, sexual nudity, sexual activities, self-harm and necrophilia.
The Cameron R-1 school district has secretly removed some of the books with explicit adult content. You can read about that in the article titled “Cameron R-1 school district sees reason and begins removing explicit books.”
The resource provided to parents by the Cameron R-1 school district
The Cameron R-1 school district has responded to concerns over these books by providing access to the online resource. It can be accessed at GoFollett.com by anyone and allows you to search a specific school’s library and get descriptions of the books found there.
That sounds helpful, but the descriptions lack information useful to parents in deciding if a book’s content is appropriate for their child. Let us use Bag of Bones as an example. In Destiny, you will find the following description of this adult book—the resource the school board expects parents to use to make informed decisions about whether their child should read it:
Novelist Mike Noonan, still grieving the death of his wife after four years, retreats to Sara Laughs, his isolated summer home, but the peace he is seeking slips even further from his grasp when he finds the community in the grip of a powerful millionaire, and his hideaway becomes the site of ghostly visitations.
Through the website RatedBooks, we get a better glimpse of what you can truly expect to find in this book’s pages. The following summary is taken from RatedBooks:
Summary of Concerns
This book contains; alcohol, alternate gender/sexual ideologies, anxiety/mental illness, bullying, dark content, death/grief, deception, derogatory terms, drugs, dubious consent, gang rape, gore, horror, incest, murder, necrophilia (invision/nightmares), obscene/explicit
sexual activities/sexual nudity, potentially patently offensive content, potentially prurient content, profanity, racism, self-harm, sexism, suicidal thoughts, and violence (graphic).
There is a vast difference between the information provided in the two resources, yet the school district and board of education only tell you about and encourage you to utilize Destiny.
More problems with Destiny
Destiny does indicate to parents which books have been restricted by the school district. One example is the book The Bluest Eye. As you can see in the screenshot below, this book is restricted.
Cameron R-1 doesn’t provide parents enough information to make an informed decision
You can see next to the “Call #” in the screenshot that the district has restricted this book and requires parental approval for students to check it out. What you do not see is the reason why the book was restricted. If you go to BookLooks, you will find a link to the content. Be forewarned: this book includes incest and molestation with a graphic first-person description of the pleasure a father feels as he impregnates his preteen daughter. How does the description in Destiny compare to BookLooks, and which resource should the school district be encouraging parents to use?
A three-person book review committee voted to restrict this book, but the district refuses to tell us why. Why then does the district refuse to allow a true informed decision by advising the public what kind of content is in these books? The committee knows what content is in this book; it is arguably what caused them to restrict it to only students above the age of 18. Why the secretary and lack of transparency?
How to determine if the books are right for your child
Unfortunately, there is no universal book rating system that makes this process easy for concerned parents. It will require effort on your part because the school district does not take responsibility for vetting the content they provide to your children. There are more than 30,000 books in the Cameron school district, and parents are left to research the content themselves.
There are numerous websites that maintain a list of concerning books which are easy to find. This website contains a list of books specific to the Cameron school district on our Dirty Book Page. We recommend copying the title you want to research and then logging into the Destiny Discover page by selecting your state, the school district, and finally the specific school within that district as shown below. Once you confirm the book is in your library, proceed to RatedBooks and see if they have a record of the book. Not every book is on RatedBooks.
How to proceed after finding a book you do not want your child to read
By default, any of the 40-some books the district has restricted are not available to students unless they are 18 years old. Unfortunately, we have reported upwards of 200 books to the district, and not everything with sexually explicit content is being restricted by the book review committee. If you find a book that isn’t restricted by the district, you can complete the district’s book restriction form. But be forewarned: you still need to monitor what books the district allows your child to access. In February of this year, the district was caught providing restricted books to students without parental consent during a Book Tasting event. Allegations were made that a school district employee completed parental consent forms so a child could read the restricted book The Hate You Give. As Ronald Reagan once said, trust but verify. You can track what books your student reads through Destiny—be sure to ask the school for help in accessing those records.
The erosion of parental rights in education in the Cameron school district
It was long ago established that parents have the absolute right to direct the education of their children. I contend that the Cameron R-1 school district is doing an end run around those rights by knowingly providing explicit adult content to our children without informing the public. This is especially true for the books the school’s book review committee has reviewed and restricted.
The board of education is derelict in its responsibility to provide oversight and inform the community
During board meetings where the Cameron R-1 school district was provided the recommendations of the book review committee, they failed to ask any questions or even vote to accept the committee’s recommendations. It would have been reasonable to ask questions such as why books were restricted or what guidelines the committee used to make decisions. The board failed in every instance to ask questions, demand transparency for the book review process, or take any vote. The board entirely abdicated its responsibilities to the community and refused to provide any oversight.
Actions the school district and board should take to inform and empower parents
To properly inform and empower parents, the Cameron R-1 school district and board should:
- Provide detailed content warnings alongside book descriptions in Destiny Discover
- Publish clear criteria used by the book review committee for restricting materials
- Ensure transparent communication about why specific books are restricted
- Implement proper oversight procedures to prevent unauthorized access to restricted materials
- Respect parental rights by making the review process more accessible, transparent and informative
- Create policy that strengthens parental rights and allows a formal book challenge process
Parents deserve to make truly informed decisions about their children’s reading materials. The current system falls short of providing the transparency and information parents need to exercise their fundamental right to guide their children’s education.
In a shocking turn of events, the Cameron R-1 school district has been quietly removing challenged books from the high school library. These books that have been removed were previously challenged under a now rescinded policy for their “graphic” and “sexually explicit content”. A list of those challenged books can be found on our Dirty Book List.
Before I get too far into this article I would like to extend my gratitude to the Cameron R-1 school district and its board of education. It took more than 2 years, but they appear to have finally taken this explicit adult content seriously. I pray this is them taking steps to restore some good old fashioned family values to our small rural Missouri community. Please take the time to let them know you appreciate that they’re taking steps to protect our children and for beginning to restore parental rights.
The list of books we believe to have been removed
The following 8 books were among the first 80 books that were challenged. Some of these books we physically held in our hands, some we found through the district provided Destiny access. The district initially confirmed these books were in the district. Our search today shows the books mentioned below are no longer present in the Cameron R-1 school districts high school library.
We will provide a link to a page for each of these books where you will find information about the book. That page includes additional links with passages where you can read the content. In one case, for the book Lucky, you will also find a link to video with some of its passages being read to the board in March of 2023. Two years later it appears that horrible content is no longer in our public schools.
WARNING !! The text and video in the following itemized links contain explicit adult content that is NOT appropriate for children.
- Lucky by Alice Seabold- informational link – Video link
- Lovely Bones by Alice Seabold- informational link
- Like a Love Story by Nazemian- informational link
- Friday by Robert Heinlein – informational link
- Fallout by Ellen Hopkins- informational link
- Smoke by Ellen Hopkins – informational link
- The Duff by Kody Keplinger – informational link
- Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott – informational link
- Maus by Art Spiegelman – informational link (We believe there were two of them, books 1 and 2 but cannot confirm)
How to search the library contents online
If you would like to confirm the absence of these books, or to see what other books are available in the Cameron high school library you can search for free using Go Follett. Be sure to compare the description of the books you will find there to descriptions in the links above.
Were other books removed?
Excellent question. We have submitted a Missouri sunshine law request seeking a full list of books that have been removed from the high school library. We are awaiting for the district to respond and provide us with those records. There will be an updated article once we receive and comb through those records. We hope to be able to provide you with a complete list of all the books that have been removed.
Why were the books removed?
The justification for the removal of these books is not yet clear. At least 3 of the books, The DUFF, Lucky and Looking for Alaska were voted on by the book review committee to retain, with restrictions. If or when a new vote was taken is unclear. The link to the last found book review committee update is from the June 2024 school board meeting. It is a document from the districts provider and will likely save to your downloads folder.
Because we were unclear about why these books were removed we included in our sunshine law request the documents that show the vote(s) by the committee to remove these books and any cited justification or cause for their removal. Once we receive and process those sunshine law requests we will be sure to provide an update.
Thank you, Cameron R-1 schools board of education
I would like to personally extend my sincere gratitude for your courage in finally taking a stand to protect our children and starting a much needed return to family values and morality in our community. I hope you will consider providing an update at next weeks school board meeting regarding this matter. It is of significant interest to the community.
Please let us know how you’re deciding which books needed to be removed and your plans moving forward for further restrictions or removals. Our children are our greatest treasure, thank you for recognizing they needed protected from harmful sexually explicit content. I know it has been a stressful and difficult path, but those who do the right thing when its hard should be celebrated, not ridiculed.
At the June 2025 Cameron R-1 school district school board meeting, a concerned resident addressed the school board about yet another book. After giving a much needed content warning, Mr. Gilbert reads passages from the book Identical, which is found in the high school library, from the book Identical. The 7 person school board didn’t appear concerned by the content.
What is in that book that causes concern
The passages Mr Gilbert read includes graphic details of a father grooming and then involving one of his identical daughters in a sex act. Even when those passages were described in medical terms the local Cameron paper refused to publish that letter to the editor. He denied it because it was too graphic.
Here is the video of that address to the board. For those of you who would like to confirm this content is in the book we will provide the Rated Books link to the book Identical.
Update on our previous post about the “Book Tasting” event from the Cameron Missouri high school. We have obtained clarification from the district and a copy of the documents seen in picture from the Cameron R-1 schools Facebook page. We will share that clarification and the 43 page document we received.
Today we received an email that documented a Missouri Sunshine law response that was forwarded to us. A concerned tax payer had request a copy of the document seen in the districts Facebook post about the “book tasting” event. The school district has fulfilled that records request and provided a clarifying statement. You can see the documents in the following image on the flat surface under the monitor.
According to the statement in the email response Mr Landi received, that document seen in the photo was apparently unrelated to the book tasting event and wasn’t intended specifically for the book tasting even. Here is the districts statement.
The following link will allow you to download the 43 page PDF provided by the Cameron R-1 school distinct.
Looking at this document and all of its pages, I am left with the two different gut feelings. First, this material lacks any warnings to the type of adult content found in these restricted books. Second, it seems this document is intended to get children interested in reading the adult content that superintendent Matt Robinson personally determined needed to be restricted to all students except those who are 18 years old. Is the school district truly spending tax payer resources to encourage children to read sexually explicit adult content?
It is interesting that the school district chose to use school district staff and resources to create this “unfettered review” for students. Despite being asked to do so for almost 2 years, the district refuses to create a similar document for parents. We want something that outlines the content in these books that caused the superintendent to restrict them. I believe it is reasonable for the Cameron R-1 school district to provide parents with a resource like this 43 page PDF that would allow us to make an informed decision about allowing our children to read these books.
Currently the Cameron R-1 school district doesn’t provide parents with anything that explains why a specific book has been restricted by the district. Even the Destiny Discover service parents can use doesn’t describe the content in these books. Superintendent Matt Robinson determined these books needed to be restricted, doesn’t the school district owe it to the parents to tell us why?
In a previous blog post titled “Reents-Dickkut says students can “view” restricted books” we covered what appears to be an intentional run around of the parents wishes. Restricted books were provided to the class without at least one parents approval. Dickkut appears to have admitted as much in her email response to a concerned parent.
Considering those two books, Speak and Hate U Give, were among the 43 pages in this document, I do not believe the district can claim this was an accident. The cover of each pages specifically states “These books require a parent signed Full Access Agreement” on every page. That is pretty clear to me. Here are those two books as seen in this document.
The Cameron R-1 school district has spent two years ignoring our questions about these books. Of course, I have more questions after inspecting this document. Who created this document and why? Was it created by direction of school administrators? Which one? Or is this dimply the act of one person and another attempt to indoctrinate our children and circumvent the will of parents.
I will close out this post by sharing an Instagram post from an account appearing to belong to the high school librarian. They are recording an unboxing video as the appear to promote a series of different LBTQAlphabetSoup books. Several of those books seen in this video have been restricted or outright removed because of their adult content.
Did you catch her mention of “diversity” as she discussed these books with a student? Notice her hashtags on that post in the description under the video? Yes, we have DEI in the Cameron R-1 school district.
On February 6, the Cameron, MO high school shared out a post on it’s Facebook Page highlighting a “book tasting” event held by ELA teacher Jennifer Reents-Dickkut for her sophomore level Language Arts class. One local parent noticed that among the images posted by the Cameron school district were 3 titles that had been restricted by the school superintendent, Matt Robinson. These books were restricted because of the adult content they contained and were not to be given to under age children without express permission from a parent through a form provided by the district.
Here is the original post on the Cameron R-1 High Schools Facebook page. Three different “restricted” titles are visible in the included photos for this post
In a strange turn of events, we received an email that was forwarded by a parent who had a child in that class. That parents child was given the restricted book The Hate U Give without the parents consent. This parent emailed Mrs Dickkut to ask why their child was given a restricted book without consent. The following screenshot was taken from the bizarre response which seems to suggest that superintendent Robinson’s restriction on books is only for reading, viewing them is acceptable. See the blue highlighted portion in the image below.
“There is a policy to read books with permission, but nothing on the form about viewing them. ” – Jennifer Reents-Dickkut
Yes, Mrs Dickkut appears to defend her actions by suggesting that school restrictions that prohibit her from providing restricted books to children without parental written approval doesn’t apply to just “viewing”.
Considering the 2 year long fight in Cameron over all of these explicit books with adult content, it doesn’t seem reasonable that this was a mistake or a misunderstanding of policy. Dickkut was at the same board meetings as me when the superintendent and board discussed these restricted books and how they were to be handled. It was very clear. Restricted books were to be segregated in a library closet and not to be given to students under the age of 18 without first getting parental approval on a book restriction form. There was ZERO discussion about any differences between reading and viewing.
In a story we shared yesterday, you can see Mrs. Dickkut admitted to this parent that she told the students in advance that there were restricted books being used in the book tasting. This struck me as odd, because we were told by the Cameron school district and our board of education that access to restricted books would be controlled and only students with parental consent would be provided a restricted book. This appears to be a deliberate act by an activist teacher to disobey her administrators and board of education.
Recently the Clinton County leader, based out of rural Plattsburg, MO, published a story on its Facebook page about the Cameron High Schools social media post about CHS teacher Jennifer Reents-Dickkut’s Language Arts 2 classes. The Sophomore level classes visited the CHS library and took part in a “book tasting.” According to Reents-Dickkut, 9 different books were “tasted”. We have that list of books and would like to share it.
While viewing the schools social media post about the “book tasting”, a concerned member of the public identified 3 three books shown in those pictures that had been restricted by school superintendent Matt Robinson. According to Robinson and the 7 member school board, restricted books were not to be given to minors without express parental consent.
We have obtained an email record from Mrs. Reents-Dickkut about the books that was sent to a concerned parent. Dickkut appears to provide a list of the books used in her book tasting event. Dickkut denies that the book Me Earl and the Dying Girl shown in the pictures for the event was used in the class. Apparently another district employee was making that restricted material available to the students.
Here is the list of book titles sent to the concerned parent. Some of the books listed here are rated by Book Looks, we will provide a link to those books after the book titles. Those links will open a PDF which will give you an overview of the book, a summary of the concerns with that book and the page numbers with the text of the concerning passages. Books with excessive vulgar language will also include word counts on that PDF. The books Speak and Hate U Give are the two books that have been restricted by the school district. There are links provided for both of those books.
1-The Sun is Also A Star by Nicola Yoon, –
2 Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, – Link to Book Looks
3-All American Boys by Brendan Kiely and Jason Reynolds – Link to Book Looks
4-The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas – Link to Book Looks
5-Dear Martin by Nic Stone – Link to Book Looks
6-The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie – Link to Book Looks
7- Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds – Link to Book Looks
8-Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia
9-A very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi etc.
This screen shot was taken from the email that Mrs. Dickkut sent to the concerned parent. The admissions from Dickkut in this letter are concerning and will be featured in its own topic soon. In this screen shot made from that email, you can see students were told in advance that restricted books were on the tables. The school board assured the community the restricted books wouldn’t be given to students without parental consent. Clearly that directive wasn’t followed.
What is the curriculum objective for these 9 books that Mrs. Dickkut selected for that class? What is the literary value of those books? We have asked those very questions dozens of times about the books we find and challenge within the Cameron, Missouri, school district. In 2 years, neither the district nor any member of the board of education will so much as acknowledge they have received our questions. So without any answers, we have been left to trying to draw our own conclusions.
Because the Cameron school district refuses to allow parents or members of the public to inspect these books, we have to resort to using the only available resource they provide us, Destiny Discover. Jumping into Destiny I found a reoccurring theme to these books selected for this class. Racism and oppressed minority groups. Is this DEI in our classrooms?
In the following video, you will see and hear Mrs. Dickkut addressing the school board about the restriction of books in the Cameron school district. She strongly supports children reading these books with adult sexually explicit content. In this video, Dickkut mentions diversity 5 times along with references to race, minority groups, LGBTQ issues and a few other topics addressed in DEI. Is this a radical teacher pushing DEI on our kids? You tell me.
In the Cameron high school library, the process and reason behind the sexually explicit books which have been added to the school libraries makes sense when you know the players behind the scenes. Or in this instance, it is the state library association known as MASL. It is the position of this organization that children should be permitted to read any content they want to read.
Listen to this interview with the President of the Missouri Association of School Librarians (MASL) and then ask yourself, should an organization with these stated goals and opinions about parents be creating our guidelines on what content will be made available to children?