TAMPA, Fla. — The Florida House Speaker Paul Renner (R-Palm Coast) announced on Friday that he sent a request to Hillsborough County Schools Superintendent Addison Davis for information related to "age-inappropriate" books in school libraries.
"The request seeks to understand the decision-making processes for allowing such materials to be made available to young children and how school officials address parental objections," a press release said.
In a letter to Davis, Renner said recent media reports indicated that elementary and middle school libraries in the district contained "numerous books that appear to not to be age-appropriate." The letter also accused some schools of not being transparent in the decision-making process related to parent complaints.
Renner requested written and electronic communication between more than a dozen people, including Davis, several different documents, and educational materials related to the library book called "This Book is Gay."
An online description for the book, written by Juno Dawson, said it's a "candid, funny, and uncensored exploration of sexuality and what it's like to grow up LGBTQ also includes real stories from people across the gender and sexual spectrums, not to mention hilarious illustrations."
Renner also requested all documents relating to complaints about the book.
The letter sent to Davis said the timeline for the requests spans from Dec. 1, 2021, through the date of the district's response.
The school district provided the following statement on Friday.
"We respect the concerns of our elected officials and community members. Our district works to ensure we have age-appropriate content in our schools. Per state statute, staff is following our processes and procedures regarding objections to library media materials. The school’s Educational Media Materials Committee reviewed the book and upheld the decision to keep the book in the school’s library. We are now at Stage 2 of our process – the book is up for review with the district committee, and we will follow the integrity of our procedures. Based on policy, the superintendent does not have the ability to pull a book unilaterally without following district policies and procedures."
In a statement provided in the press release, Renner said, "These books have no place in our school system due to their graphic depiction of sexual conduct and step-by-step instructions of how to access digital sex apps on the internet.”
Read his statement in full below.
Paul Renner Letter to HCSD ... by ABC Action News
ABC Action News obtained a copy of the book. On the back cover, the author writes, "Inside this revised and updated edition, you'll find the answers to all the questions you ever wanted to ask: from sex to politics, hooking up to stereotypes, coming out, and more."
It goes on to state, "This candid, funny, and uncensored exploration of sexuality and what it's like to grow up LGBTQIA+ also includes real stories from people across the gender and sexual spectrums, not to mention hilarious illustrations."
Chapters in the book include: "Coming Out," "The Ins and Outs of Gay Sex," and "Build a Bridge: Guidance for Parents and Carers of LGBT+ Youth."
We spoke to Hillsborough Classroom Teachers Association President Rob Kriete. He said the process continues to evolve.
"We have a district committee that will be convening as early as next week to look at some of these titles. Then when decisions are made about what is age-appropriate, we will make those determinations as a committee and make sure that our employees know exactly what books are allowed, which ones, unfortunately, might not be allowed based upon these decisions," he said.
Kriete said teachers await the changes.
"We feel like we'll be doing this for years without committees and legislation that kind of are gonna overrule or kind of oversee this work. So there's a level of nervousness that's out there in the classrooms and in the media centers," he added.
