ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – More restrictions have been recommended for controversial books in St. Johns County.
A school district media advisory committee on Wednesday decided to recommend new restrictions on two library books including one that discusses LGBTQ issues.
This comes after age limit restrictions were recommended for four other books yesterday.
Seven books were reviewed by committees after parents objected to their contents. When it was all said and done committees recommended removing one book from a middle school library and making another only available for sophomores, juniors and seniors in high school.
Seven more controversial books were reviewed by St. Johns County School District committees today after parents said they discuss subjects like racism and homosexuality that don’t belong in schools.
Five of the books were recommended to stay in library collections with no restrictions including:
But after discussions, committees recommended restrictions for two books: “Queer: The Ultimate LGBT Guide for Teens” by Kathy Belge and “A Court of Frost and Starlight,” by Sarah J. Maas.
St. Johns County parent Lisa McGarity who appealed “Queer: The Ultimate LGBT Guide for Teens” said, “This book contains graphic sexual content not suitable for any school library,” in a letter to the district.
A three-person committee made up of a parent, a district leader and a school media specialist disagreed and said the book discusses themes that could be helpful for students but decided it was still best to limit access to the book to 10th graders and higher.
A committee also said the fantasy novel “A Court of Frost and Starlight,” which one parent said has explicit sexual content, should be removed from middle schools and only be available to high schoolers.
All of the recommendations made Wednesday will now be forwarded to superintendent Tim Forson for a final decision, and if the parents aren’t happy with that decision, they can make an appeal to the school board.
But the work of the committees is not done. 37 more books appealed by parents will also be reviewed in the coming months.
