This afternoon, the Escambia County School Board will meet and discuss removing four more books from school libraries and classrooms. Retired educator Linda Fussell has urged her friends to attend and fight the book banning. She asks them to wear read and offers advice for those attending:
From Linda Fussell:
Hi Everyone,
Round 2 of the Escambia County Public School Book Bans begins on Monday, March 20, 2023, 5:30 pm at the J.E. Hall Center, Room 160. It is so very important that as many supporters of books in school libraries show up and make their voice heard. I hope you will be able to attend.
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
New Kid by Jerry Craft
Drama by Raina Telgeimeier
The Nowhere Girls by Amy Reed
These are the latest books that have been challenged, gone through the District Materials Committee review and been appealed by the complainant and now goes before the School Board to vote whether to keep on the shelves or ban the books from the school media centers.
I have attached the original complaint, the Committee Information Packet, the Committee decision and the appeal filed by the complainant for each book. Several of these books are appealed because of a belief that they violate the Florida Statue 847.001 “Any instructional material containing pornography or otherwise prohibited by FS847.012 may not be used or made available within any public school.”
Please look over these materials and see the reasons given for the complaint and appeal of the decision by the Committee, and the Committee responses which show careful, thoughtful consideration regarding the law that focuses on the complaint and answers the questions of the Miller test. In order meet the criteria of Florida Statue 847.001 a work must meet all three criteria listed below:
FS 847.001 “Harmful to minors” means any reproduction, imitation, characterization, description, exhibition, presentation, or representation, of whatever kind or form, depicting nudity, sexual conduct, or sexual excitement when it:
(a) Predominantly appeals to a prurient, shameful, or morbid interest;
(b) Is patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community as a whole with respect to what is suitable material or conduct for minors; and
(c) Taken as a whole, is without serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors.
While the complainant may believe that the language used in all the books is pornographic or obscene and qualifies as a violation of FS847.001, school officials are bound by constitutional considerations, including a duty not to give in to pressure to suppress unpopular ideas or controversial language.
The Supreme Court has cautioned that school officials “may not remove books from library shelves simply because they dislike the ideas contained in those books and seek by their removal to ‘prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion.’” Board of Education v. Pico, 457 U.S. 853, 872 (1982) (plurality opinion).
This constitutional duty applies with particular force in the school library, which, unlike the classroom, has “a special role…as a place where students may freely and voluntarily explore diverse topics.” Campbell v. St. Tammany Parish School Board, 64 F. 3d 184, 190 (5th Cir. 1995).
You can use the Committee’s Decision information as talking points to the Board.
With this in mind, please make a plan to speak at the Board Meeting.
· You can speak on each individual book.
· You can speak at Public Forum, separately from the books.
· You have 3 minutes to speak. BUT bring a friend who is not speaking and they can “give” you their 3 minutes, or two friends so you’ll have 10 minutes to speak.
· Focus your ask on the School Board to support the District Materials Review Committee
You can also do the following before the March 20 meeting
1. Sign up to serve on the District Materials Committee to review books. The more “open” minded people on these committees the better. Word is now out about the committees and those who wish to shut down books are applying too. Please contact Media Services Dept. @ Ph: (850) 595-0030 x290.
2. Call and email your school board member. Let them know you are disappointed in the decision to ban three books from our school libraries. You can call/email all the board members because their decision impacts all students.
go.boarddocs.com/fl/escambia/Board.nsf/vpublic?open.
3. Use this link to see the books that have been challenged. If you have read any of them, go to the Community Input Column and add your feedback.
docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1hv6Wtu55zY3t5bmbksY2ie7Q-L3zAQdjrtaFh4duLC4/edit#gid=0
4. Consider writing a letter to the editor of the PNJ. The Opinion page of the PNJ is the most widely read section of the newspaper and only appears now in the Sunday edition. It is an important tool in spreading the word about the book bans. 200-word max.
One more thing:
If you were at the February meeting you were aware of many religious viewpoints that were presented. Those that only spoke about religion and were allowed to only speak about religion need to be told that the topic of the evening is books. When you speak/email the school board members please remind them to stop appeasing those who only present their religious beliefs during a public-school board meeting.
If you need more ideas to present at the March 20, Board Meeting try these:
The Board has ignored the recommendations of the District Committee four times, why don’t they follow the recommendations? The Committee members have read the book, reviewed the laws involved, reviewed the School Board policy and have reached a decision after thoughtful discussion. The Committee is definitely more well versed in the information about the book than the School Board. Why not follow the recommendations?
A small, vocal minority using religious overtones, scripture readings and inflammatory references to “pornography and obscenity” are attempting to control the narrative around book censorship.
A parent in Escambia County already has the right to opt their child out of using the library or limiting certain books or having an alternative assignment if there is an objection to content, they should use it rather than prevent others from having information.
The book challenges present specific agendas that are strongly anti-LBGTQ, racist and discriminatory in origin.
Many of the people speaking against books DO NOT HAVE STUDENTS IN THE SCHOOL SYSTEM, and they want to control those students in the public schools.
School Boards need to support teachers and media specialists in the district. This constant assault on them will lead to a greater loss of a qualified, certified workforce, which endangers our students. Be the voice for all teachers and media specialists, they cannot speak for fear of losing their jobs, many are not tenured.
You may want to arrive early at the Board Meeting. The number of people who support books and want to be involved is growing. When you come to the meeting wear RED (red for ed) so we can identify each other.
If you have made it this far, a BIG THANK YOU. Lots of information to share.
Click to Download
Bluest Eye.zip
26.2 MB
Click to Download
Drama.zip
1.4 MB
Click to Download
New Kid.zip
3.7 MB
Click to Download
Nowhere Girls.zip
6.5 MB