FL: Media specialists revolt after School Board takes aim at book policy
The state-required update of the Volusia County Schools policy governing how school-library books are selected has sparked alternating rounds of furor. First, vocal parents urged the School Board to go beyond what state law required. Then, school media specialists across Volusia County — both active and retired — bristled in response.
At the heart of the matter is content that parents’ rights activists label “sexually explicit.”
New state laws have created a formal process for any Florida resident to challenge a school-library book and, in Volusia County, 77 books were challenged. That list was whittled down to 19 after review by school-district officials, Volusia County Schools Deputy Superintendent Rachel Hazel said.
Media specialists say the books are carefully selected after a rigorous vetting process, and the content is appropriate. Further, if there is objectionable material, there are already processes in place to review the content, and parents can sign a form stipulating that their children are not allowed to go to the school media center.
At their Feb. 28 meeting, many School Board members seemed mostly amenable to tightening the book-selection process beyond the requirements of state law.
“The laws are gonna get harder, they’re gonna get more descriptive — they figured out they didn’t go far enough,” Board Member Ruben Colón said. “You know, this is for anybody who thinks this is going away: It’s not. If you think the book should be on the shelves, then you might as well move out of Florida.”
https://beacononlinenews.com/2023/03/16/media-specialists-revolt-after-school-board-takes-aim-at-book-policy/
= new reply since forum marked as read
