No probable cause found in Williams Field book assignment case

By Tom Blodgett
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Gilbert Police have no probable cause for the arrest of a Williams Field High School teacher on a book assignment she made to students. 

The investigation has been forwarded to the Arizona Department of Education to review whether any violations, including potential violations of state law relating to sexually explicit material in public schools and written parental consent, occurred, Gilbert Police spokesman Sgt. Levi Leyba said. 

The assignment was from Williams Field teacher Brittany O’Neill to her Multicultural Literature class, a dual-enrollment class for credit at Chandler Gilbert Community College. 

The book is “Homegoing” by Ghanian American author Yaa Gyasi, who tells the fictional story of seven generations of an African family split in two, according to SparkNotes.com: One side remains in Africa while the other is brought to America on a slave ship.   

The law prohibits the use of sexually explicit material in the classroom but provides an exception for material that possesses serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value so long as parents give their consent and an alternative assignment is available if a parent does not give consent. 

Parent Charles Seal-Villafranca said his parental rights were revoked when O’Neill sent home a copy of the book, the first assignment of the year, after Villafranca questioned why he would have to purchase books for the class. 

O’Neill’s consent form for parents indicated the book does contain sexually explicit material under the law but noted that it was minimal.  

“Sexual exploitation should not and will not be treated as ‘sex’ in this course,” she wrote. “Rape and assault are tools of oppressors and are used to dehumanize victims. Any mention of assault will not focus on details, but on understanding that traumatic events have on the characters.”   

She also had an alternative assignment. Villafranca was the only parent not to give consent. 

Police initially declined to take Villafranca’s complaint under one state law but eventually picked up the investigation under another state law on the production, publication, sales and presentation of obscene items, and another on furnishing harmful items to minors. Both are considered felonies. 

The Independent was unable to reach Higley Unified School District officials for comment, but the district had backed O’Neill as following proper procedures. Furthermore, CGCC had approved the book for use with the class. 

We would like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org. Tom Blodgett can be reached by email at tblodgett@iniusa.org or follow him @sp_blodgett on X.       

Tom Blodgett
Senior News Editor | Gilbert

tblodgett@iniusa.org

Meet Tom
Tom Blodgett joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2022, when the company acquired Community Impact Newspaper's Phoenix-area properties. Raised in Arizona, he has spent more than 35 years in journalism in the state.

Community: He has served as an instructional professional in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication since 2005, and is editorial adviser to The State Press, the university's independent student media outlet. He also is director of operations for an 18U girls fastpitch softball team from Gilbert.

Education: Arizona State University with a BS in Journalism. 

Random Fact: He lived in Belgium during his freshman year of high school.  

Hobbies: Tweeting enthusiastically about ASU softball (season-ticket holder) and grumpily about other local sports (pessimistic fan).