The Manatee County School District is facing a challenge as it looks to implement new state legislation and regulations limiting content in classroom libraries.
The measures, passed by the Florida Legislature in 2022, went into effect in January and have teachers cataloguing classroom books, following procedures for approval by school media specialists.
Classroom teachers have been told to “remove or cover all classroom libraries” until materials can be reviewed and checked for compliance with Destiny, a web-based library program created by Follett School Solutions.
Before passage of the legislation, a public statement last March from Republican Gov. Ron Desantis said the measure would require the Florida Department of Education “to publish a list of materials that have been removed or discontinued by school boards as a result of an objection and disseminate the list to school districts for their consideration.”
Reading libraries are now under scrutiny in Manatee County schools.
“In regards to books in school media centers or classrooms, the School District of Manatee County is abiding by all applicable laws and statutes of the state of Florida and adhering to the guidance of the Florida Department of Education,” district communications director Mike Barber wrote in a Jan. 27 email to The Islander.
At AME, principal Mike Masiello, in a Jan. 23 email to The Islander, wrote, “There is a new state rule on having only approved books in school.”
That day, AME teachers moved forward with the state requirements to catalog books and set aside materials for review by media specialist Lynne MacDonough, then for review by the AME School Advisory Committee, comprising parents, teachers and students and signed off by Masiello.
The AME SAC chair is former Holmes Beach Commissioner David Zaccagnino. Vice chair is Janae Rudicille and student support specialist Ivory Graham is secretary.
Advocates of the state approach maintain it preserves the rights of parents to make decisions about what materials their children are exposed to in schools.
In a Jan. 25 letter to families at Ida. M. Stewart Elementary in Bradenton, principal Joe Hougland wrote, “This will allow parents to view the books that are in the school and your children could have access to.”
“Let me be clear, we are not ‘banning books’ as has been shared through much rumor and speculation, we are simply cataloging the materials and posting them to the school’s website and the Destiny book portal so that you can be informed as to what is here at Stewart Elementary.”
But some community leaders, school employees and parents maintain the legislation violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution ensuring the freedom to read and speak freely.
In one email to Manatee’s school board, resident and public school media specialist Marie Masferrer wrote, “I fully support parents’ rights to choose books for their children. But not all parents have the same views or beliefs as to what their children read. Every child should have a book but not every book is for every child.”
“Parents who object to materials with opposing viewpoints can request those books not be read in their homes, but they cannot restrict others’ choices in how they raise their children in this great nation,” she added.
The next AME SAC meeting posted on the calendar is set for April 20 at the school.
The next regular school board meeting will be at 10 a.m. Feb. 14 at the Walter E. Miller School Support Center, 215 Manatee Ave. W., Bradenton.
School educators and librarians are professionals who are trained to not impose their own thoughts and opinions on which ideas are right, but to make knowledge and ideas available so that people have the freedom to choose what to read. Books are tools for understanding complex issues. Limiting young people’s access to books does not protect them from life’s complex and challenging issues. Exposing young people to a variety of ideas, people, places and view points makes them more empathetic and resilient. I trust that the AMI community will weather this moment and stand together in support of our families and schools and give students the rights to choose for themselves and not impose or restrict others access to information or books ; censorship has a long history of not working well for those doing the censoring.
Educators should be trusted to provide books and resources that meet their students’ needs. Covering or removing classroom libraries until they have been approved by some system will equal an additional learning loss that our students, post Covid, cannot afford. This is utter nonsense. I trust teachers to make sound judgements and provide students with books that offer perspectives that represent the realities of our world. It is a disservice to our students to do otherwise.
This is draconian, ridiculous and exactly why our fine state is the absolute laughing stock of the world. This law and process is unequivocally a direct assault against all citizen’s first amendment rights. You can believe what you want to believe and control what your own children read, but you cannot control everyone else and their children. It’s the age old and unfortunate religious right hypocrisy of telling everyone else how to live their lives. If Jesus was really alive today he would call you all blasphemers and not at all Christian. This is simply about fear and control. It’s just insane that this is even a discussion in contemporary society. Stick to your own side of the street, clean up your own life and leave the legal, rightful pursuit of knowledge to any other human that chooses to pursue and encourage it in younger generations. They have to clean up our mess. Think for yourself, you sheep. These are illegal, antiquated, outdated, disgusting and uneducated measures of control.