- October 10, 2024
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Several speakers hoped to lean on Florida House Bill 1069 to remove some books from school libraries at the Volusia County School Board meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 26.
The new law states that "parents shall have the right to read passages from any material that is subject to an objection" during a school board meeting and if they are denied, or stopped, due to explicit or obscene content, the book would need to be removed.
But Volusia County Schools attorney Kevin Pendley said the books must be formally challenged first on one of four grounds: It qualifies as pornographic material; it depicts or describes obscene sexual conduct; it's not suited to students' needs and ability to comprehend material; or it's inappropriate for the age group for which the material is used.
"Depending on which one of those grounds a challenge is made determines whether it is something that has to be taken off the shelves within five days," Pendley said.
Books that have been challenged for pornographic or depiction of sexual conduct must be removed from school library shelves within five days of being challenged until the district's objection process is completed.
Pendley said VCS had no book objections at the time of the meeting. Board members sought clarification prior to speakers reading passages.
"So if [books] are read tonight, nothing by law can be done," School Board member Jessie Thompson said. "However, if they were to go tomorrow and challenge them, technically it could start going through this process and be pulled off the shelf within five days, correct?"
"If it is pornographic or describes sexual conduct," Pendley said.
Fourteen books were formally objected to the night of the School Board meeting. VCS reports it has not received any more objections since.
Of the fourteen books challenged, three went through the district's review process last year: "All Boys Aren't Blue" by George M. Johnson; "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky; and "Sold" by Patricia McCormick.
Moms for Liberty Chapter Chair Jenifer Kelly said that when she walked in the room for the meeting and sat down, the person next to her got up and told her she wasn't going to be "sitting next to a fascist."
Kelly argued that her chapter doesn't seek to ban books on Black history or ones that represent the LGBTQ community — their issue is with books containing sexually-explicit content.
"Even the descriptions in the card catalogue aren't accurate," Kelly said. "We have adult fiction books in there that say, oh, this is a coming of age. It does not say anything about the graphic pornographic content in these books."
She told the board members that they had been misinformed by the school district's legal team. She emphasized the wording in the law that states parents have the right to read from books "subject to an objection."
"Not 'has already been objected to' — there is a difference," she said.
Kelly read from the book "Sold" by Patricia McCormick. The book was removed for three school districts last year: Clay, Manatee and Martin.
"Sold," a novel about a young girl sold into sexual slavery, went through the VCS challenge process last school year and was kept on shelves in both middle school and high school libraries.
Ormond Beach resident Barb LeBlanc asked the district why books containing sexually explicit passages are allowed to remain in school libraries.
"We are taught to correct behavior that is inappropriate and this is extremely inappropriate," LeBlanc said. "May God bless this process tonight as we move forward to eradicate this filth from our media center shelves throughout Volusia County Schools."
LeBlanc read a passage about child rape from "Identical" by Ellen Hopkins. The book was removed from Clay County last year.
The meeting also drew speakers, from in and outside Volusia County, in support of books and the district's formal challenge process.
Retired English teacher and former School Board member Linda Cuthbert said that when she
selected books for students to learn from as part of the curriculum, she challenged her students to look at the book as a whole. She used the example of "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain, which has been criticized for its use of racial slurs. But the book is about more than that, Cuthbert argued, citing the book's spotlight on slavery, child abuse and racial injustice.
"It was all those details, taken not out of context, but put together in a total book, a total message, a total purpose," Cuthbert said. "So my students could learn and choose for themselves what they liked, what they didn't like and how they wanted to model lives and what they didn't want to model their lives after."
Citizen Patricia Stevenson said many of the books being read at the meeting were in high school libraries and provide value to students seeking to become educated on issues like sexual trafficking and child prostitution. Last school year, 89 books were objected to in Volusia County; 18 went through the challenge process and two were removed.
She urged board members to stay strong against immediate book bans.
"When I was younger, it was often said that we shouldn't judge a book by its cover," she said. "Nowadays, it seems more pertinent to say that you shouldn't judge a book by an excerpt."
Volusia County School Board Chair Jamie Haynes said topics revolving around sex should be addressed by parents with their students, and not in a school library book.
"I have no problem with any of these books, truthfully, being in a public library," Haynes said. "... Parents have the right to choose but when it comes to school libraries, parents don't have the right to come in and help their children select the books. The books are there and they have unfettered access."
Moms for Liberty was successful in pulling 34 books from Indian River County School District shelves after reading passages from books before the board. The group's Seminole chapter attempted to do the same on Sept. 19, but the Orlando Sentinel reported the board listened to the passages without interrupting and took no action.
Referencing HB 1069, School Board member Carl Persis said if it was a straightforward law, all school districts would be enforcing it the same way. He spoke about the Miller Test, which determines whether something constitutes as obscene, and said the state puts school boards in difficult positions.
"I respect the right of any parent that does not want their child to read a certain book — that's what we've always said here," Persis said. "We never force library books on anyone's child. At the same time, I would not want another parent to be able to tell me what my child cannot read. I think it's incumbent of this board if we say we're for parental rights, we're for all parental rights."
School Board member Ruben Colon said many people know where he stands on the issue from a "moral, ethical standpoint."
"But we've got to follow our process," he said. "If it means that this gets challenged — which I anticipate after I say this, the challenges are going to roll in — that's OK. That's why [the policy] was written that way."
School Board member Anita Burnette said she appreciated people speaking on both sides of the issue.
"I think each of us all want what's best for kids, and sometimes that idea is not always the same, but our goal is the same," she said.
