A Texas middle school teacher was fired after giving her students a graphic version of The Diary of Anne Frank, which references male and female genitalia.
Officials with the Hamshire-Fannett Independent School District confirmed that a teacher was fired and the book was not presented for pre-approval.
In the graphic novel adaptation of the famous diary, Anne Frank details her exploration of her own body parts and sexuality throughout her puberty.
After learning about the use of the book in the school curriculum, parents expressed their outrage by talking with KFDMstating that students should read aloud in class.
“The Diary of Anne Frank: The Graphic Adaptation,” based on the original 1947 diary, is a newer version of “The Diary of Anne Frank.”
This is a page from the book that refers to genitals and Anne’s desire to kiss her friend Jacque.
“It’s bad enough that she makes them read this for homework, but then she also makes them read it out loud,” said mom Amy Manuel, whose sons are in eighth grade.
“Making a little girl talk about feeling each other’s breasts and when she sees a female, she goes into ecstasy, that’s not right,” she continued.
In an email to the local Texas outlet last week, Hamshire-Fannett ISD Rep. Mike Canizales confirmed the teacher was released after the incident.
The instructor was initially fired from classes on Wednesday, Sept. 13, but on Friday officials said they were looking to hire a replacement.
“The district is currently in the process of posting the position in order to find a high-quality, full-time teacher as quickly as possible,” Canizales wrote.
A Hamshire-Fannett Middle School teacher was fired after asking her students to read the graphic version of Anne Frank’s diary.
The seemingly innocuous graphic novel includes references to Anne Frank – and other young women – dealing with puberty and their periods.
At one point in the book, Anne mentions wanting to kiss her friend Jacque and ask her if they could show each other their breasts.
“If Only I Had a Girlfriend,” the graphic novel shares in the caption a photo of Anne jumping through a row of statues of naked women in a garden.
Original versions of Anne’s diary omitted references to puberty and sexuality, but the graphic novel, published in 2018, was drawn from the original text.
The novel was published by Ari Folman and illustrated by David Polonsky. Folman’s parents are Polish Jewish survivors of the Holocaust.
In an email to the local Texas outlet last week, Hamshire-Fannett ISD Rep. Mike Canizales (pictured) confirmed the teacher was released after the incident.
Anne Frank was sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1944, then died at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in 1945.
In Friday’s statement, Canizales said that moving forward, they plan to take additional measures to ensure the content delivered to students is relevant.
The communications coordinator also thanked parents for their “trust and partnership” during this transition period.
“We appreciate your trust and partnership as we all work toward the common goal of safeguarding your child’s educational environment,” Canizales wrote.
While the district maintains the book was never approved, parents say the book was on a list sent to parents at the start of the school year.
They believe someone higher up than the unidentified teacher was aware of the material and did not disapprove of it or remove it from the curriculum.
In a statement to KDFM, a source close to the teacher claimed that the principal of Hamshire-Fennett Middle School approved the book.
The source also told the outlet that the unnamed teacher has since retained a lawyer.
DailyMail.com contacted district officials to inquire about the teacher’s firing and the investigation, but did not receive a response.
Dwaine Augustine, Hamshire-Fannett ISD Superintendent
An image taken from the graphic novel adaptation of Anne Frank’s diary
This certainly isn’t the first time the graphic version of Anne Frank’s Diary has sparked drama in a school district.
In April, a Florida school library removed the adaptation after a group of parents complained that it was sexually explicit and downplayed the Holocaust.
At the time, it was one of four books removed from county libraries, as school officials continue to review literature deemed controversial.
Jennifer Pippin, president of the group’s Indian River chapter, said WPTV that they were opposed to the book because it contained a “graphic scene” in which Anne Frank asks a friend to expose themselves to each other.
Last August, the same book was reinstated in a Texas school district after initially being deemed “too graphic” for schoolchildren.