The discussion among Broward County School Board members Tuesday was less about banning books and more about how to comply with Florida’s Parental Bill of Rights Law.
“What does the law say, how does Broward County create a process and a policy around that process that will allow us to do what’s legally required but make sure we can still educate our children about reality in today’s world,” said board member Dr. Allen Zeman.
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Called by critics the “Don’t Say Gay" law, it allows any one person to object to a book in a public school library or classroom, and then that book must be removed from the shelves until its appropriateness can be determined. The law bans any discussion of gender issues or sexual orientation through third grade, and after that, it must be “age appropriate.”
School district staff recommended a plan that would have book objectors going first to a school’s principal, who then would document the complaint and forward it to the district to evaluate.
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“That’s not a good idea," said board member Brenda Fam. "Principals have enough to deal with already."
Her colleagues seemed to agree with her, as no one fully supported the plan.
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During the public comment period of the workshop meeting, the board members got an earful from parents who opposed the law and the plan to implement it. One mom, who is also a first-grade teacher, said when teachers use books that feature gay characters, they’re just teaching reality.
“They’re not teaching sex, they’re teaching tolerance, they’re teaching about relationships, they’re teaching about society,” Melissa Schiff said.
“I have a problem with a few parents dictating to us in the parent's bill of rights,” said Patty DiBiasi, a parent and teacher. “They do have every right to ban and monitor their kids’ books, but not everybody else’s. We have been reading all these books on the banned books list for years and nobody ever said anything about them.”
There was only one parent who spoke out in favor of the law.
“Somebody made a comment, you can teach your children what you want at home," Deirdre Ruth said. "That goes both ways. If a book is removed at school, nothing’s stopping you from buying them on Amazon. You want your child to read it, sure, read it at home, instill your ethics, instill your values at home."
Board member Sarah Leonardi said the district should explore an option of allowing parents who object to a book to opt their kids out of having to use it, instead of allowing one parent to have a book removed entirely.
“I was a high school English teacher, I taught Romeo and Juliet, I taught Macbeth at length, there are a lot of sexual situations in those plays, and I think we’re gonna go down this road and there are very tough discussions we’re gonna have to have, and I’m very worried about academic freedom in this state,” Leonardi said.
