The School Board of Alachua County (SBAC) unanimously approved the second reading of a series of board policy amendments Tuesday night, including new policy for book challenges.  

Board Member Sarah Rockwell thanked the district attorney, Susan Seigle, for the work she and her staff have put in to update the board policies. 

“This is an extremely arduous, lengthy update to our policy handbook, and that was a heavy lift, and I appreciate it,” Rockwell said. 

As discussed in a Feb. 7 workshop, the policy update includes a process for those who want to contest classroom material, library materials, or materials included on a reading list. 

The district received its first book challenge last September, a few months after a new state law took effect requiring schools to remove materials from classrooms or school libraries that contain depictions meeting the state definition of sexual conduct, if a parent raises a concern. 

The first book was removed on a principal’s authority, but many more quickly followed, mostly from the same parent. A lack of policy delayed the process and frustrated the parent, Crystal Marull, but the district’s newly hired attorney brought recommended policy to the board in a workshop earlier this month. 

With the policy coming into play, Marull, who has submitted 11 challenges, has been working her way through the new process since before it was solidified. Last week, a video clip from one of her hearings went viral, leading Superintendent Shane Andrew to issue a lengthy statement of clarification. 

The new policy requires parents or county residents to submit written challenges to their principal, who then forwards them to a district-level curriculum supervisor. The supervisor is to convene a committee to review the objection and make a recommendation, which, if it does not satisfy the objector, will be referred to a hearing. 

The hearing officer’s recommendation would then come before the school board for a final decision. 

If an objector disagrees with the board’s determination, they may ask the state education commissioner to appoint a special magistrate to look at the case and render a new recommended decision to the state Board of Education within 30 days. 

The policy also says that parents may read passages “from any material that is subject to an objection.” If the school board denies a parent the right to read passages because of pornographic material, descriptions of sexual material, or content that is obscene, the district will discontinue the use of the material. 

Several citizens attended Tuesday’s meeting to read excerpts from school library books, including titles such as “Water for Elephants,” “The Kite Runner” and “Sold.” 

“I feel like to have this for my children, or any children, it’s not a right that we’re talking about,” parent Matt Gordon said during public comment. “We’re talking about just common sense. And I hate to read these words, but I will, for the sake of that.” 

Bob Edward, one of the citizens who came to read, also provided a proposal to the district of a change he wanted to see in the book challenge policy, but Seigle suggested that the board pass the policy changes as they stood. She said Edwards’ changes could be added later. 

If the district wants to adopt Edwards’ proposal, the process will depend on whether it would be policy or simply a procedural change. Seigle noted that the board only needs to approve policy, and that procedural changes can be made without going through the rulemaking process.