SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The Paradise Valley Unified School District Governing Board unanimously voted on Thursday to not renew an employment contract for Horizon High School's principal in the midst of a controversial book assignment.
Principal Linda Ihnat will not be returning to Horizon for the 2022-2023 school year after parents from the school raised concerns about an AP English summer reading assignment.
Parents notified the district last month that they were shocked to learn students had been assigned to read "So You've Been Publicly Shamed" for an AP English class over the summer.
Governing board member Nancy Case said in an opening statement, "Written procedures of the district policy was not followed. These parents have been trying to protect their children, teachers need to follow policy. Policy is written to protect the students, teachers, parents and district. It was not followed."
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The 2015 book by Jon Ronson contains interviews with internet personalities who have been publicly shamed online.
One section of the book quotes an infamous 2008 article published in News of the World about a "Nazi-style orgy in a torture dungeon."
The part of the book that disturbed Thomas Morton, whose teenage daughter attends Horizon High, references an internet thread about a man who was in love with his dog and engaged in acts of bestiality.
"It's extremely inappropriate and I can't believe that someone would think that this is an appropriate assignment for kids," Morton told 12 News.
Ronson's book was one of two options Horizon's students could read over the summer as part of a writing assignment. Once Morton reviewed the book for himself, he said he emailed his daughter's teacher with some questions.
After he failed to get an adequate response, the father wrote a letter to the school board which prompted the district to review its reading lists.
The hearing had parents and students from both sides of the conversation giving their opinions on the book as well as the assignment. The meeting ended with the vote to discontinue Inhat's employment.
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