An eighth-grade teacher from Texas was dismissed from a classroom last week for reportedly allowing students to read the graphic novel adaptation of Jewish German diarist Anne Frank's "The Diary of a Young Girl," which included sexual content and images of nude statues.
Hamshire-Fannett Independent School District spokesperson Mike Canizales told CBS and Fox Beaumont affiliate KFDM, who first reported about the incident, that the graphic novel version of Frank's diary "was not approved" to be read in class.
"The teacher was sent home [Wednesday, September 20]," he said, adding that there was an active investigation into the matter underway.
Aside from the information provided to local media, Canizales did not provide any further information about the matter and the identity of the teacher despite reporters' requests for information. Instead, he provided an email that went out to parents Friday last week (September 15) about "concerns" over the reading curriculum and a substitute teacher.
"The District is currently in the process of posting the position to secure a high-quality, full-time teacher as quickly as possible," the email stated. During this period of transition, our administrators and curriculum team will provide heightened support and monitoring in the reading class to ensure continuity in instruction.
Anne Frank's Sexual Secrets
Frank's unabridged diary, first published in 1947, includes anecdotes of her experiences as a budding teenager exploring her femininity prior to the Holocaust and Nazi Germany's concentration camps, where she and her sister eventually died. The unabridged version of her diary included sections omitted from earlier publications, in which Frank suggested to a friend they show each other their breasts and a section where she walked past nude statues.
"Anne Frank's Diary: The Graphic Adaptation" was released in 2017, exactly 70 years after the first unabridged publication, as an illustrated version of Frank's diary.
Last week's incident was not the first time the graphic novel version of Frank's diary caused controversy.
The book was removed from a Florida school library in April after a leader of Moms for Liberty in Indian River County raised objections to the content. A spokeswoman for the School District of Indian River County said the book had only been checked out twice before it was removed.
The graphic novel was also listed in the books removed by the Keller Independent School District in the Fort Worth area last year, as per NBC Dallas-Fort Worth.
