Florida’s school board adopts regulations regarding literature, restrooms, and “immorality”

This week, Florida’s education officials passed new regulations for restroom use and book challenges over vehement protests from speakers who said they were sick of cultural wars and the legislation they had sparked, according to a recent article by Marlene Sokol of the Orlando Sentinel.

Even though, as State Board of Education chairperson Ben Gibson noted, their elected legislators passed the enabling new laws months ago, some people specifically mentioned the rule changes in their statements.

Examples of that include a recent statute that enables parents to protest library materials at the school and district levels and allows a state magistrate to intervene if the parent disagrees with how these disputes were handled. The board unanimously accepted the supplementary rules on Wednesday during its meeting in Naples.

While state leaders are working to identify and support struggling readers, the speakers criticized the book challenge process in general, claiming it is causing a loss of literature.

According to Stephana Ferrell, co-founder of the Florida Freedom to Read Project, “There are no books in the classrooms of our youngest children for them to read, for teachers to be able to recognize who has a deficiency.”

If a parent who filed a book challenge wants to express concerns about how the issue was handled at the district level, according the new regulations, a magistrate steps in – at the district’s expense.

The rule is unfair, according to critics, including some who claim the legal challenges restrict access to LGBTQ+ content, because individuals who did not want a book removed can make no such appeals.

The regulation, according to Kate Danehy-Samitz of Women’s Voices of SW Florida, is “fascism with extra steps.”

She noted that some parents have strong opinions about particular books, and she stated that “everyone has a right to that voice.” However, you are now removing that voice from gay parents like my partner and I.

Gibson stated that the magistrate will look into whether the district followed the state law’s procedure rather than re-litigate whether the book was appropriate.

Gibson explained, “It’s ‘do they have a policy and did they follow that policy. It has a very narrow appeal.

He added that “school boards are elected,” thus if parents are upset that a local school board removed a book, “the school boards are elected.”

The discussion continued as the board passed regulations requiring students and staff to use restrooms that correspond to their given gender at birth in state college buildings. Private schools are now subject to the bathroom bill and related regulations.

The board also broadened its definition of what it will consider to be “gross immorality and acts of moral turpitude” under the state’s laws governing teacher discipline. Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. stated that term now covers exposing students to adult live acts and pornography.

The shift, according to critics, depends on how pornography is defined, which is a contentious issue.

Parent Amy Perwien stated, “Let’s be clear about true pornography and what it is not. It has never been in our schools and has never been there. In our classrooms, there is no Penthouse, Debbie Does Dallas, Deep Throat, or “The Joy of Sex.” A book isn’t pornographic just because someone doesn’t like it.”

Other speakers claimed that such ambiguity will chill teachers and cause them to restrict book choices even more than they already do.

The LGBTQ+ advocacy group PRISM’s Maxx Fenning stated that “parts of the legislation have already been enjoined.”

The drag show law was temporarily halted in July by a federal judge after the Orlando restaurant Hamburger Mary’s sued the state.

Nevertheless, the amendment to the moral turpitude regulation was overwhelmingly approved.

“We keep hearing from the concerned public that there will be a wholesale emptying of our libraries and classrooms, and that there will be a drop in literacy,” board member Grazie Christie stated at one point.

“I think that it is a gross misrepresentation of what is happening in our Florida schools,” said Paul Burns, chancellor of the department’s division of public schools. In our classrooms, there should never be any bare or empty bookcases. In our libraries, there shouldn’t be any empty or barren bookcases. Kids should have access to good reading resources now and in the future.

The original article can be found on the Orlando Sentinel.