- October 8, 2024
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Is Volusia County School Board's policy on media selection of print and non-print materials aligned with state statute?
The School Board met on Tuesday, Feb. 13, to discuss Policy 320, agreeing to pursue a few minor changes to clarify and streamline the process for book challenges. Namely, allowing virtual meetings between the complainant and the school principal and instructional personnel where the book is located; adding a timeline for book challenges; and clarifying that if a book challenge reaches the School Board, and the complainant disagrees with the outcome, the decision can be appealed to a special magistrate.
A total of 16 books have been objected to so far this school year. According to the district, four have been found not to have violated state statute, but have yet to be discussed with the principal and remain off the shelves; three that were removed by school personnel; seven that were found to violate state statute and two books under review. The district's objection form is on the Volusia County Schools homepage.
School Board member Ruben Colon stressed the importance of implementing a timeframe for the challenges — whether it be a 30, 60 or 90 day process.
"We can't continue to waste all this time with books that have been objected since October and basically being kept off the shelf that entire time," he said.
Colon cited an instance where a complainant filed a challenge in December but said he or she wasn't able to meet with the principal of the school where the book was located until May. Meaning, the book will be off the shelves for that entire time, regardless of whether it violates state statute or not, a move Colon called a "game" that wastes staff's time.
"I'm not saying these books are good or bad — I don't even know what they are, to be honest with you," Colon said. "It's just that the process seems infinite versus finite."
School Board member Carl Persis agreed that board should take action against prolonged book challenges.
"This is flawed legislation that will probably continue to get amended and amended as each group comes in and they hear from school districts about, 'This isn't working the way you thought it might, and it's becoming very cumbersome and it's taking a lot of time for people to react to it, for board members and staff to keep crafting language to meet the intent of the legislation,'" Persis said. "It's just so hard for me. I wish we spent the time we do on this about teaching children how to read and what books to read, rather than crafting legislation that takes books off the shelves."
The legislation has created environments where teachers are scared to have classroom libraries in case they are sued or criticized, Persis said. But it puts the board in a difficult place because it does have to follow the law.
"Even if we don't agree with every element in the law, we have to abide by the law," Persis said. "... We have to type it up so that people cannot take advantage and deny students from having access to books just because a particular parent doesn't want that book."
That one parent can object to a book and restrict its access to other children in the school doesn't sit right with him, he said.
School Board Chair Jamie Haynes said she doesn't understand why some teachers are fearful to have classroom libraries. She had one as a teacher and said she never had books that would go against the current state statute.
"No one should be fearful unless you're choosing to break the rules," Haynes said. "... So if you're in fear or in doubt of a book on your shelf, take it home. It's that simple."
School Board member Anita Burnette agreed that more time should be spent on adding books to enrich students' reading.
"I would love to see us have a list of books that are good for everybody — that are not harmful to anyone, that meet all of the laws," she said. "... Then we an change the dynamics and the culture of this conversation because we do want to have our kids reading."
There are districts that stopped buying books due to the legislation, but VCS isn't one of them, said Desiree Rybinski, district coordinator of instructional materials and media services.
"Media specialists are regularly selecting books and adding them to their collections based on state statute," she said. "They are all trained annually, and that is part of the state statute. They are curating lists to share with their media advisory committees to add to their collections."
Burnette said the district should highlight that.
Colon agreed, and as the district has about 500,000 books in its school libraries, he believes it's time for change.
"How many hours and hours have we spent on 16 books?" Colon said, citing the challenges. "Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying they all belong there. ... I think it's time we transform the rhetoric and the culture war and start talking about, 'What are the books of the month?'"
