In 2010, Floyd T. Binns Middle School (FTBMS) in Culpeper County, Virginia assigned the Definitive Edition of The Diary of Anne Frank to the English classes. This new edition of the diary, first published in 1995 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Anne Frank’s death, included passages once censored by Otto Frank himself. These newly published passages included descriptions from Anne herself describing her genitalia and feelings toward other women. This caused a parent of a FTBMS student to voice a verbal complaint about “Sexually Explicit” and “Homosexually Themed” passages, and demanded that students no longer read the Definitive Edition. Immediately and without following its own review policy, the school made the decision to remove the novel from the classroom. This abrupt choice caused public backlash, which was remedied by the school restricting the Definitive Edition to the library, while keeping the first publication of The Diary of Anne Frank in the classroom.
Since this was a verbal complaint, there is no physical record of the incident. School Board Policy asks that the complainant fill out a written complaint so that the school and school board may review it before making any decisions; however, this was not the case.
School and district:
Floyd T. Binns Middle School, Culpeper County, Virginia
People Involved:
Superintendent – Bobbi Johnson (Retired)
Director of Instruction – James Allen (Retired)
Complainant – unknown
Department:
English Department, no specific teacher. All English teachers who taught during the case are no longer teaching at the school.