Booksology UPDATE – TUESDAY NIGHT
ESCAMBIA COUNTY, Fla. — The Escambia County school board unanimously voted to allow the superintendent to remove all the books on the Florida Department of Education’s book removal list.
The board ruled the superintendent can remove these books without review.
Every year the Florida state Department of Education releases a list of books that were removed from shelves during the school year.
The superintendent can now remove any book on that list without review.
Normally, books may be challenged by parents and guardians in Escambia County. They must then be reviewed by book review committees before removal.
Tuesday night’s decision allows the superintendent to remove those books if he sees fit without review.
The book review committees will continue for books that may be challenged in the district.
There was a list of 18 books on Tuesday that media specialists had decided to pull from the shelves after review.
The school board voted to get rid of all of them.
Board members also voted to pause the purchase of new books until there is a better process to screen out pornographic materials. That will be discussed in the July workshop.
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ORIGINAL STORY – TUESDAY
ESCAMBIA COUNTY, Fla. — The Escambia County school district’s board is set to vote on a motion Tuesday night recommending the ban of 18 books.
The motion was added to the regular meeting agenda Monday during the agenda review by District 1 member Kevin Adams. It was agreed to be added unanimously.
The school district says the 18 books are all classified as adult novels and, “contain graphic descriptions and depictions of sexual conduct.”
Here is the full list:
Lexicon — Max BerryMilk and Honey — Rupi KaurThe God of Small Things — Arundhati RoyOryx and Crake — Margaret AtwoodCrescent City: House of Earth and Blood — Sarah MaasTriangles — Ellen HopkinsThe Sun and Her Flowers — Rupi KaurHome After Dark: A Novel — David SmallHome Body — Rupi KaurMy Dark Vanessa — Kate RussellWhite Knight — Sean MurphyZahra’s Paradise — Amir & KhalilCollateral — Ellen HopkinsMaestros — Steve SkroceWoodcuts of Women — Dagoberto GilbWhat Girls are Made of — Elana ArnoldBeautiful — Amy ReedBreathless — Jennifer Niven
Members are asking Superintendent Keith Leonard to approve the removal of all 18 without further review.
In addition, there will be discussion on future “filtering: methods for books, making sure no more pornographic material makes it onto shelves.
All of this, and public comment, will begin Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.
Hannah James is covering this story tonight. Tune into WEAR News at 10 p.m. for her full report and check back here for updates.
