Fitzhugh Lee is not a book banner. He wants to make this clear. But he’s very concerned about the content of some of the books at the Coronado High School and Coronado Middle School libraries and he’s spent the last six months researching the topic. It’s one of the reasons he’s running for school board: he wants to empower parents and encourage more transparency on behalf of the district.
A retired Navy Captain who served 24 years in the U.S. Navy flying F/A-18s, Lee says he has the skills, temperament and experience for the job. He’s used to making quick, yet well-informed decisions, while exemplifying leadership and working as a team.
“I seek consensus solutions in tough times,” Lee said. “I’m very thorough and I have an education and life experiences that have prepared me well.”
We met for the interview at the Coronado Public Library. Lee carries with him a large binder packed with data about library books, including everything from information from the American Library Association to Supreme Court opinions on free speech. He also has a spreadsheet of library books available at CHS and CMS, books which contain material he says some parents could find inappropriate. Lee says he’s spent hundreds of hours doing the research.
“The saying is, ‘trust in God, all others bring data,’” said Lee. “I do both.”
The spreadsheet of books contains titles ranging from The Handmaid’s Tale and Perks of Being a Wallflower to Identical and Portnoy’s Complaint. The file highlights books available at the middle and high school and contains links to the website BookLooks.org with excerpts of content that he says could be concerning to parents.
“We have some books in our library collection that may include some of the most disturbing things you will ever read, that I have ever read, and I’m a Navy sailor, goodness sakes,” says Lee. “And we’re giving this to 13-year-olds?”
While he admits that library books, in general, aren’t being checked out very often anymore, the fact that school libraries are making them available to minors sends the wrong message. What it comes down to, says Lee, is a matter of judgement.
“I think studies show that over-sexualization of children is bad,” said Lee. “What do we see it leading to? Increased rape culture, for example. And a desensitization of this kind of behavior.”
He worries that introducing inappropriate material to children from trusted institutions–like school libraries–is akin to sexual grooming. He points to reports like this one from Psychology Today that show that early exposure to sexual material can lead to activities like high-risk sex and sexual violence. Lee also references the district’s Disciplinary Action Guide which explicitly states the “viewing or displaying obscene or sexually explicit content” is not allowed.
“So why is [this content] in our school library?” asked Lee. “We can do better.”
Lee says he’s spent the last six months joining forces with district leaders to work on a solution. The result? A new portal, allowing district parents to opt-in to an email service that notifies them when their child checks out a book. According to Superintendent Karl Mueller, the purpose of the portal is to “show parents what books we have, demystify some of the information that’s out there, and hopefully make it easier to engage in conversations with their kids.”
Lee says he’s happy with the results, but thinks the district needs to take it a few steps further. First of all, the form currently needs to be printed out, signed, and submitted. Lee would prefer that this could be done online. Secondly, he thinks it would be helpful if parents could get more guidance on what books might contain inappropriate material. This could come in the form of a rating guide that could be a link in the parent portal.
“I’m not suggesting banning, not suggesting removing, but suggesting an aid to books that could come with a parent caution, like a rating guide,” says Lee.
He says increased transparency, like the library portal, could potentially help the district with one of its biggest problems: declining enrollment. The district reported pre-pandemic enrollment at 3,057, with the latest numbers at 2,770. He says some parents are worried that their concerns aren’t being addressed.
“Let’s look at the numbers and see why they are leaving,” said Lee. “If some of them are [pulling their kids out] for private schools, why now?”
And enrollment directly affects the budget, which Lee says is the district’s number one challenge. While the district is likely to be a Basic Aid district (whereby the schools are fully-funded by property taxes) in the 2027-2028 school year, it’s forecast to be about $800,000 short ahead of that.
That means more cuts. But he credits Donnie Salamanca, Deputy Superintendent, for working creatively to solve budget challenges.
“What will be needed is really good communication, really good examinations and critical thinking and critical analysis of the data which Donnie and his team do very well,” said Lee.
Fitz acknowledges teacher negotiations can be tricky in the current fiscal reality, and as a union member himself (he’s a commercial pilot) has compassion for teachers. As things stand, the Coronado Association of Teachers is asking for a 10% pay increase.
“This is the tough spot we’re in,” said Lee. “We’re deficit spending, and we are projected to run out of money before we get to [Basic Aid.] The last thing you want to cut is your people. You want your teachers to be well-paid.”
But Lee says that even when things get hard, it’s important to maintain a civil discourse. He said people can disagree with each other without being disagreeable.
“Whatever difference I can make, I will try with grace because I know how much grace has been shown to me, so I want to show that same grace to others,” said Lee.
Fitzhugh Lee is a retired Navy Captain. Use of his military rank, job titles, and photographs in uniform does not imply endorsement by the Department of the Navy or the Department of Defense. The views expressed are his own and are not reflective of official military policy or position.
