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NEW CARLISLE, Ind. — The former Director of Literacy for Elkhart Community Schools has landed a new gig at the New Prairie United School Corporation. Tara White is now the Director of College and Career Readiness at New Prairie, where her husband, Paul White, currently serves as Superintendent. This comes after Tara White resigned in disgrace following a REAL News Michiana investigation showing she was working overtime to ensure pornographic, disturbing and controversial material was made available to children as young as 5-years-old.
In the Washington Post article, White describes the reason she left Elkhart Schools last year was because of the pressure of RNM’s investigation and new Indiana laws meant to protect children.
According to Linkedin, Tara White quickly landed a new gig at New Prairie in August of 2023. RNM reached out to Superintendent Paul White to get comment on the hiring of his own wife. As of publication, we have not received a response.
TARA WHITE PUSHES PORN
RNM discovered Tara White’s push to keep porn in Elkhart Schools in May of 2023 through an email obtained by our news organization and further investigation into what books were being provided to children in Elkhart Elementary Schools at the time.
CURRENT CONTROVERSIAL BOOKS
It turns out, several books regarding communism, transgenderism, sex and the LGBTQ agenda were added to Elkhart elementary school libraries in 2023 at the direction of White. Below is a short list of some books that were made available to children as young as 5-years-old.
Sylvia and Marsha Start a Revolution! — Ages 4-8 — A story about transgender women of color which, according to Amazon, “introduces children to issues surrounding gender identity and diversity, accompanied by a reading guide and teaching materials to further the conversation.” That reading guide prompts children to choose their own pronouns and names and helps them down the path of political, marxist activism.
Julian is a Mermaid — Ages 2-6 — A story that introduces children as young as 2 to the world of Drag. The front cover of the book features a young boy dressed as a female.
Ana on the Edge — Ages 8-12 — A story about a non-binary 12-year-old.
The Fabulous Zed Watson — Ages 8-12 — A story about a transgender child who is often “misgendered.”
The Insiders — Ages 8-12 — A story about a gay child.
Hurricane Child — Ages 8-12 — A story about a little girl who falls in love with another little girl.
TARA WHITE DEFENDS SEXUAL BOOKS FOR KIDS
In an email on January 23rd, then Director of Literacy Tara White defended the sexual books being made available to children as young as 5-years-old at Elkhart Community Schools.
“Let me first assure you that by the state’s definition we do not have anything in our libraries that would be considered pornography.” White stated in her email to administrators. “However, there may still be parents or stakeholders who object to books we have in our schools. If you are faced with a parent who has an issue with a book or resource, please remember these guidelines in working with parents on these issues. I have also included a few slides here that we use for intellectual freedom training that reference current case law concerning book challenges. As you will see in these case law slides and as our ECS guidelines reflect, a book that has been challenged MUST remain on the shelf until the Reconsideration Committee has completed its process and made a decision. We open ourselves up to a greater liability by removing books preemptively or self-censoring our collections versus letting the board-approved process play out through reconsideration procedures we have in place.”
You can see her email and the supporting attachments below.
The email also lambasts an Elkhart Board of County Commissioners resolution concerning pornography in school libraries that also passed last year.
“This resolution is NON-BINDING, meaning that it has no legal enforcement measures, but I am sure that the press coverage and social media buzz around this resolution may bring more questions from parents about resources in our school libraries.” She stated.
Despite the resolution, the books previously mentioned in this story were added to the Elementary school libraries after the Commissioners’ decision.
WHITE THREATENS TO SUE RNM
Following our story in May of last year, an attorney for Elkhart Community Schools sent REAL News Michiana a Cease and Desist letter threatening to sue the news organization.
“I write as counsel for Elkhart Community Schools (“ECS”) regarding false statements you have made about an ECS employee on a website known as ‘Real News Michiana.’ The comments concern Tara White, the Director of Literacy for ECS.” Mark J. Crandley, an attorney representing ECS wrote in the Cease and Desist letter. “In your posts on the website, you repeatedly claim Ms. White promoted pornography to children. This statement is false and defamatory. At no time has Ms. White provided pornography to children. A sample of such an article is attached.”
RNM responded by telling Mr. Crandley that the story is accurate and we look forward to any litigation. Further, we would file a countersuit following Indiana’s anti-slapp statute. RNM never heard back from Mr. Crandley and no action was ever taken.
It turned out, Elkhart Community Schools did not get approval from the district’s school board prior to threatening our news organization with the lawsuit. Sources told RNM the board did not support the threatened action and it’s likely Superintendent Steve Thalheimer signed off on having an attorney issue the legal threats. Superintendent Thalheimer also resigned in June of last year.
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So what is librarian qualifications for ‘career advice’? Also, why would this position be filled right before school is out? So all summer the new hire does what? Do you really want your kid’s college and applications advised by a porn promoter who likely hasn’t had a real job and whose husband doesn’t have one either? Without porn promoter background, this hire wastes New Prairie taxpayer money instead of filling on merit.
Sounds like the Indeed search must have been a little thin. Political hiring, nepotism, and NEA shuffling union members to overpromotion is just not a good look for public schools shedding children to private schools. If you keep doing this, better hope all the aliens vote one way or your industry will get AI’d all the way to bankruptcy.