The debate over books in public school libraries continued during the Sept. 1 meeting of the Clay County School Board.
During the June 30 school board meeting, Bruce Friedman, Florida president of No Left Turn in Education and the father of a Middleburg student, attempted to read portions of the memoir “Lucky” by Alice Sebold. However, school board Attorney Bruce Bickner stopped Friedman from reading the passage, saying it contained pornographic material. Friedman said the book was available at the Oakleaf High School and Fleming Island High School libraries.
Since then, Friedman and other parents said they have uncovered books in school libraries that contain critical race theory, social-emotional learning, comprehensive sex education, common core and gross acts of sex and violence.
During the Sept. 1 board meeting, Julie Miller, the media specialist at Ridgeview High School, told the board that because of the debate, students’ access to research databases is being questioned, and students may lose access to the information.
A senior at the school added that he didn’t think he could graduate with an international baccalaureate degree at Ridgeview without access to the databases.
“These databases are incredibly helpful in IB,” he said. “We have several major papers that we have to write with different viewpoints, and they need to be written with a certain level of nuance. We need strong, reliable sources that can provide that.”
Freidman appeared before the board during their Sept. 1 meeting and demanded faster action on the over 300 books he has challenged in the district’s libraries.
Josh DuBois, who described himself as a pastor, parent and citizen, told board members that he and other parents are not trying to ban books but to protect children from harmful content.
“You guys have got to get serious and deal with this,” he told the board.
Superintendent David Broskie said that every book in district libraries that has been challenged has been removed from shelves and is being reviewed.
