Florida school district begins to ‘catalogue’ books under DeSantis-backed law

(CNN) — Florida counties are making efforts to enforce a law championed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis that requires books in school libraries to be approved.

According to Pat Barber, Manatee County school district teachers are experiencing “fear” and “confusion” as the district works to implement HB 1467, which requires books to be pre-approved or reviewed by a Florida Department of Education-trained media professional. president of the Manatee Educational Association, the county’s teachers’ union.

A document provided by the county outlining new legislative changes to HB 1467 indicates that violations can be considered a felony in the third degree.

“It is unacceptable to me that teachers can be put in a position where their good deed of providing classroom libraries to their students to instill in them a love of reading could lead to criminal prosecution,” Barber told CNN.

The book regulation, which went into effect in July following a signing by DeSantis last year, requires the library’s media resources to be approved by “a school district employee holding a valid educational media specialist certification,” according to a June memo. According to the Florida Department of Education, which issued guidance notes back in December, library materials, including classroom materials, must be “free of pornography” and illegal materials, “meet the needs of students and their abilities.” understand the material presented” and “corresponds to the level of education and age group”.

“A teacher (or any adult) faces criminal liability if they knowingly distribute egregious material such as images depicting sexual behavior, sexual assault, bestiality, or sadomasochistic slurs. Who can be against? Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. tweeted Wednesday in defense of the measure.

The controversial legislation marks just one of several attempts backed by DeSantis to legislate what can be taught in Florida schools — a public stance that has boosted his national prominence as he is said to be weighing a potential presidential nomination in 2024. Just this week, the governor commented for the first time on the state’s rejection of the AP’s new proposed course on African American studies for imposing what he called a “political agenda.”

CNN has reached out to DeSantis’ office for comment.

Marie Masferrer of the Florida Media in Education Association asked school board members during a meeting on Tuesday to provide students with access to books in the classroom while materials are being cataloged and reviewed. “Open class libraries while the process can be completed,” she said.

Don Falls, who teaches public administration and economics at Manatee High School, told CNN teachers have been told they can pack their personal libraries in the classroom, shut them down, or enter books into the district’s catalog system to check their approval and keep them. shelves. He decided to cover his books with chart paper.

“I think it’s a stronger statement to hide them. My students asked me what was going on, and although I did not go into details, I informed them of the restrictions placed on books coming from the district through the state,” Falls said. , who is teaching in the district for the 38th year.

He added: “I don’t have the time or the feeling that I have to go through all these books and put them into the system. This is fundamentally wrong for me and my students’ First Amendment rights.”

On Tuesday, Lori Breslin, executive director of curriculum for the Manatee School District, said some teachers may have chosen to block access to books because they don’t have enough time to catalog their classroom libraries and check if the titles have been pre-approved. But Breslin pointed out that teachers are allowed to give students pre-approved reading materials, and students have access to books in the main school library.

“We are protecting teachers, not banning books,” said School Board Chairman Chad Choat III.

While battles over access to controversial books have traditionally been fought from district to district and even school to school, Republican-controlled states including Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, and Texas have enacted statewide rules to make it easier for critics to remove books they don’t like. like from school. libraries in every community.

In Manatee County, the school district confirmed to CNN that it is in the process of “cataloging” books in classrooms to make sure they are legal.

Kevin Chapman, chief of staff for the Manatee County School District, said volunteers are working with teachers to list books in classrooms and check to see if there are books in the verified materials database. If a book is not approved, he says, it should be reviewed by a qualified media professional.

The district met with directors last week to brief them on how the district plans to implement the new law, Chapman said. He said he was not aware of any books that had been withdrawn since last week’s meeting, but said the books had been withdrawn since the start of the school year because they were deemed inappropriate.

“We know it will be a process and we want them to be accurate,” he said. “It’s a big undertaking.”

Asked to respond to critics who call the process censorship, Chapman said, “The Manatee School District is just following the law.”

At another school board meeting in Pinellas County, Florida on Tuesday night, school officials confirmed they are also working to bring their policies in line with state requirements. A team of library media professionals reviewed 94 book titles over the summer “for age-appropriateness,” said Dan Evans, assistant head of teaching and learning.

“This team has recommended removing 10 titles from our collections or moving them to our adult-only resource library,” Evans said, adding that the process was initiated by the school district and goes “beyond what the state requires.”

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texasstandard.news contributed to this report.

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