JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Three weeks after a substitute Duval County teacher went viral after posting video on Twitter showing empty bookshelves in a middle school library, Superintendent Diana Greene says she wants to, " ... clarify a great deal of misinformation that has made its way around social media and the news media."
During the last month, the state has instructed school districts to “err on the side of caution” to make sure they're complying with new Florida laws regarding books and materials available to children in school libraries and classrooms.
As Duval County school leaders urged its educators to comply with the new law, this resulted in teachers removing and covering books in classrooms to make sure all books and literature are approved by the state.
"We did direct teachers to temporarily reduce their classroom library collections to titles that were previously approved while waiting for media specialists to curate a more expansive list of approved titles," Greene stated Thursday in a letter to district employees. "However, at no time should a classroom have been without reading resources."
Brian Covey, a substitute teacher at Mandarin Middle School shared jarring video on Twitter on Jan. 27 showing what this removal looked like. The viral tweet showed rows of empty bookshelves in the school's library and has over 13 million views, made national headlines and was even fodder on a late night talk show.
First Coast News asked Gov. Ron DeSantis about Covey's video, to which DeSantis replied, "That's a fake narrative."
On Thursday, Greene shared a lengthy letter with district employees saying " ... issues are being misrepresented in the news media and social media, and it is our hope that our stakeholders and local community members can at least build their opinions on facts."
Read Greene's entire letter below
Letter from Dr. Diana Greene:
Good afternoon,
I am writing today to clarify a great deal of misinformation that has made its way around social media and the news media about the status of library books in Duval County Public Schools. I am going to cover two separate story lines:
• First, I will cover the purchase of almost 1,300 books from Perfection Learning (including almost 180 books from their Essential Voices Collection).
• Following that, I will address the current effort to review all classroom library books, which is now required under state law.
This is a long note, but I hope you will stay with it until the end. Both issues are being misrepresented in the news media and social media, and it is our hope that our stakeholders and local community members can at least build their opinions on facts.
Topic One: Did the district ban more than 170 books purchased from Perfection Learning’s Essential Voices Collection, including books about Roberto Clemente and Hank Aaron?
I don’t believe this is true, but you be the judge.
1. The district purchased almost 1,300 titles in 2021. When we received that order, more than 1,100 titles went directly to the classrooms.
2. The order included almost 180 book titles from the Essential Voices collection, which we purchased to increase diversity of writers, characters, topics, and viewpoints in our classroom libraries.
3. When we received those books, we quickly became aware that the delivery included titles we did not order. We collected those books from schools and held them in district storage until our media specialists and others could review them. (Note: We have two media specialists at the district level, and their primary responsibility is to support school instruction).
4. When we reviewed the books, we sent 105 titles from this diverse collection to classrooms last fall.
5. We sent 47 book titles back to Perfection Learning. Fourteen of these were sent back because we didn’t order them. Others returned were titles that we ordered but upon review, we determined they would not comply with new legislation or were not appropriate for elementary aged children.
6. We held 27 titles as we awaited state guidance to determine the appropriate grade levels and placement (classroom library or media center) for these books.
7. Media specialists received training from the Florida Department of Education in January 2023 after returning from Winter Break.
8. As of February 13, 2023, all 27 of those titles have been reviewed and approved for designated grade levels, including the books about Roberto Clemente and Hank Aaron.
The book review process was instituted to ensure books in our schools are age-appropriate and meet the recent legislation passed by the Florida legislators.
Topic Two: Have you banned all books from classroom libraries and media centers?
No, but again, you be the judge.
1. State law now requires that every book in our classroom libraries and school media centers be reviewed by certified media specialists.
2. Since the law passed, our small team of certified media specialists (about 54 across the district) have taken on the task of reviewing more than 1.6 million titles.
3. Based on state training on multiple laws dealing with gender and racial ideology in books, they are looking for three things:
a. Material which could be considered pornographic is not allowed. State trainers reminded our team throughout their presentation that this is punishable as a third-degree felony and that reviewers should “err on the side of caution.”
b. Material which could be considered instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity is expressly forbidden in state law for students in grades K-3.
c. Material that could violate Florida Statute 1006.31(2)(d) and 1003.42(3) which, among other requirements, includes material that might describe a person or people as “inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously, solely by virtue of his or her race or sex.”
(Sidenote on item c. above: Since I arrived in 2018, we have invested more than $1 million in classroom books from diverse authors and about diverse groups of people. Our goal was—and continues to be—to put books in the hands of children in which they can see themselves and learn from a broad array of perspectives. What that now means is that we have thousands of titles that we must review to ensure our teachers do not unintentionally violate Florida Statutes.)
4. We did direct teachers to temporarily reduce their classroom library collections to titles that were previously approved while waiting for media specialists to curate a more expansive list of approved titles. However, at no time should a classroom have been without reading resources. At all times, students should have had access to state approved books, already approved civics literacy books, Benchmark Advance small group books, Reader’s Theatre, and extensive online resources in our curriculum.
5. We did have a small number of principals interpret directions and guidance more intensely, out of an abundance of caution. We have provided additional guidance to those leaders and they have appropriately adjusted their message to teachers. In their defense, the state training also stressed the accountability of the school principal with respect to the books and materials made available to students.
6. We informed principals clearly that media centers should not be closed. However, because we need all certified media specialists to review books, hours of media centers open to students, along with the availability of media specialists to support teachers, has been considerably reduced in some schools.
7. Through this process, we now have almost 6,000 book titles approved for classroom use, including aforementioned books about Roberto Clemente and Hank Aaron. In addition to our 2021 order, we already had multiple titles in classroom libraries and media centers about these historic figures, as well as dozens of books about Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks and other icons of the Civil Rights movement.
8. Another new requirement is creating a searchable, online database of all elementary classroom library books for each of our schools so that parents and the public can see all titles available to students. We also have a process and a committee that will review books if they are challenged by a member of the public. All of this is required by law and adds to the effort and time it will take to comply with the law.
We will continue this intensive process of reviewing books to comply with state laws, and here is why: Our teachers and school leaders should not have to worry about jeopardizing their career because a book may be construed to be in violation of Florida law.
Our main goal is to help children learn to read. There are thousands of books we can use to do that. We will take the time and make the effort so that our students and teachers have access to a diverse, legally compliant set of books. I want everyone to be confident that if a student reads a book and asks a question, the teacher can answer that question without fear of personal or professional consequences.
Thank you for taking the time to review this. I welcome any questions you may have so that we can be clear and transparent in sharing with community leaders and school district stakeholders what is really happening in Duval County Public Schools.