TALLAHASSEE, Florida (LifeSiteNews) – The Florida State Board of Education adopted a rule last week that mandates school librarians and teachers with classroom libraries receive annual training to purge their shelves from sexually explicit content and content related to Critical Race Theory (CRT).
The rule, adopted Wednesday, holds that librarians undergo training to keep books and instructional materials whose contents could be considered “harmful to children” from school libraries. The training also holds that parents should be involved in “all aspects” of the selection of material for school libraries. The training was written by the state Department of Education.
Librarians would be trained to be sure that school libraries contain materials appropriate for all ages that would have access to them, that the material should not contain “unsolicited theories that may lead to student indoctrination,” or that “race is inherently superior to another race.”
Further, the training instructs librarians to “err on the side of caution” while selecting material for school libraries. A video version of the training holds that if one would be uncomfortable reading the material aloud in public, then the material should not be in the school library, the Daily Caller reported. The training also advises librarians to be careful with regard to stocking school libraries with books that were banned or removed in other school districts.
The training also warns librarians that ignoring Florida statues with regard to the presence of pornographic material in school libraries could result in a felony charge that carries up to five years in prison, a $5,000 fine, and five years of probation.
The board unanimously adopted the rule after a public comment session and in accordance with a law passed last year, H.B. 1467, which mandated that schools compile a list of books and materials housed in school libraries or books on a required book list for classes.
H.B. 1467 further mandates that material in school libraries must be free from pornographic content, suitable to students’ needs and ability to understand the material, and appropriate for the target age level.
While public comment for the training was mostly positive before the board passed the rule mandating it, some suggested that the training’s wording allowed for a loophole with regard to “literary value.” Dr. Paul Burns, deputy chancellor for education quality in the state Department of Education, responded to concerns by stating that the changes were taken directly from Florida law and that any changes to the training must come from the Florida legislature.
Jennifer Pippin, a parent on the Department of Education’s library and curriculum training committee, told the Daily Caller, “With this training no more pornography or prohibited items such as sexually explicit content, Critical Race Theory or other items harmful to minors will be allowed to be purchased or donated in Florida schools. Many parents, grandparents and community members have been advocating for this for years and finally we have the laws, statutes, training and rules to support removing incest, rape, pedophilia, bestiality and more out of the hands of children in K-12 schools.”
Last year, Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis passed a series of laws that sought to purge public schools of the influence of leftist ideology. Last March, he passed the Parental Rights in Education bill, which prohibited the discussion of gender ideology in K-3, and after that in an age-appropriate way. He also signed a bill that forbade the teaching of CRT in schools.
While the Parental Rights in Education bill went into effect last July, Florida school districts were already removing books with gender and racial themes as early as May.