School Board
A veteran teacher begged the board to spare “The Devil’s Arithmetic.” The another speaker questioned the Holocaust itself and urged the board to look into state law.
The Escambia County School Board voted 4-0 on Oct. 20 to remove 256 books from all school district media centers, classroom libraries and recommended reading lists. Board member Kevin Adams was absent. There was no discussion before the vote.
- Among the titles on the list was The Devil’s Arithmetic by Jane Yolen, a young adult novel about a Jewish American teenager who is transported back in time to a Polish village during the Holocaust.
A Holocaust Educator Makes Her Case
Leigh Anne Eubanks, an Escambia teacher, spoke against agenda item 44A before the vote. She told the board she has taught history for more than 30 years and specializes in Holocaust education.
- The district owns 203 copies of the book, and many schools have class sets.
- She said she has taught Holocaust units from those class sets as part of the curriculum.
- She called it historical fiction based on survivor accounts, written for readers the age of her students, typically sixth through eighth grade.
- She said the book contains no profanity, no graphic scenes and no inappropriate language.
- She said the most common reason she found for challenges to the book is the word “devil” in the title, which refers to the evil plans of the Nazis.
The state’s role. Eubanks told the board the novel is a recommended part of Florida’s Holocaust curriculum documentation and lessons, and that Holocaust education is mandated by the Legislature. She also said the state’s list, which came out of a challenge in Clay County, gave no reason for banning the book.
“Which side of history do you and does our community want to be on when we start banning Holocaust books like this?”
Eubanks said she studied under Elie Wiesel and quoted him: “Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim.” She warned that Holocaust denial and antisemitism remain a threat, and that “thoughtless bans” of Holocaust literature benefit those who promote them.
Then Larry Downs Jr. Stepped to the Podium
Larry Downs Jr., owner of a local plumbing company, addressed the board.
- He said The Devil’s Arithmetic is propaganda: “That book suggests that the Holocaust is true and accurate.”
Downs told the board that Florida House Bill 187, passed in 2024, “made it a crime to question the Holocaust or the mechanisms of the gas chamber.” He called that anti-First Amendment and urged the board to look into the law, citing Section 1.015.
That is not what the law does.
HB 187 created Section 1.015, Florida Statutes, which adopts the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism. The stated purpose is to assist in monitoring and reporting antisemitic hate crimes and discrimination. The statute creates no crime for questioning the Holocaust. It also says it may not be construed to infringe on any First Amendment right.
- Downs also said he opposes taxpayers funding books they disagree with, and that parents can buy whatever books they want. He said some of the books in district libraries are pornographic, and described one he said was available in Santa Rosa County schools.
What Florida Law Requires
The Holocaust mandate is not new. In 1994, the Legislature passed SB 660, requiring every school district to include Holocaust lessons in public school instruction. Section 1003.42, Florida Statutes, requires teaching the history of the Holocaust (1933-1945) in a manner that examines human behavior and the ramifications of prejudice, racism and stereotyping.
- The state’s Task Force on Holocaust Education calls for the subject to be taught across the curriculum, from the primary grades through high school, in ways that are age-appropriate and interdisciplinary. Read FL-Holocaust Mandate.
Governor DeSantis’ record on the issue:
- Signed HB 1213 in 2020 to add antisemitism instruction and create Holocaust Education Week, observed the second week of November
- Signed HB 741, prohibiting religious discrimination in K-20 public education
- Signed HB 269, adding penalties for threats or discrimination against Jewish citizens
- Provided $18 million since 2019 for security at Jewish day schools
Questions the Board Should Answer
- Why were 256 titles removed in a single vote without a word of public discussion?
- Who reviewed The Devil’s Arithmetic, and on what grounds was it placed on the list?
- How does pulling 203 copies of a recommended Holocaust text square with a state mandate to teach the Holocaust?
- Will teachers who built units around the novel be given replacement materials?
Eubanks asked the board a question before it voted: where does this stop? On Oct. 20, the board answered by voting 4-0 without debating it.
Featured photo: Editorial credit: Felix Mizioznikov / Shutterstock.com