St. Johns County School Board weighing book bans

The St. Johns County School Board is weighing whether to retain, remove, or modify books from school libraries.

Some parents have asked it to ban these books, which tackle topics like sexuality, sexual identity, racism, and critical race theory. Those parents say they can’t prevent their children from accessing the books they have issues with because the current school library book access form only prohibits their children from taking them home, but not from reading them in school.

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The meeting started at 9 a.m. Tuesday morning, and more than three hours later, tensions were reaching a boiling point.

“It got so volatile that the police are actually having to remove people,” said Tom Bauer, who spoke up against the ban and decided to promptly leave the meeting afterwards.

“I said, ‘We’re telling you guys nicely now, but you guys need to be tarred and feathered,’” said Jaime Parham, who spoke in favor of the ban. “And they said, ‘Oh, don’t make threats.’ They said, ‘Kick him out,’” Parham said of the moment he decided to leave the meeting before he was escorted out.

Those representing curriculum instruction explained that a 16-member committee approved these books. At the secondary level, there are books dealing with racism like “Me and White Supremacy,” and “All Boys Aren’t Blue,” which describes a sexual encounter where the author was abused.

“The school board is knowingly distributing pornography to children,” Parham asserted. At the elementary level, there are books where characters navigate their sexual identity, like “My Rainbow.”

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“There is nothing but crippling devastation that can come from planting the seed in every child’s mind that they were born in the wrong body,” said Sashell Dragich, a mother who helped present the complaints to the school board in favor of the ban.

But those against the ban say these books serve a purpose.

“It’s everybody’s rights,” Bauer said.

“Kids need to see themselves in books,” said Karen Martin, a mother who opposed the ban. Jayden Nassar, 17, knows that sentiment first-hand.

“Me and my friends, since we are for the most part all queer, love having discussions and seeing relationships like ours in these books.”

These are viewpoints that the school board is considering.

“They need to do what’s in the best interest of the students,” Bauer stressed.

Those in charge of curriculum instruction say the St. Johns County School Board hasn’t moved to remove, retain, or modify any book selections in the past 40 years.

This is the complete list of books being discussed:

My Rainbow

Peanut Goes for the Gold

Ho’onani Hula Warrior

White Privilege

Me and White Supremacy

Boys Will be Boys: Power, Patriarchy and Toxic Masculinity

All Boys Aren’t Blue

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