Polk County Public Schools removed six books after challenges in past year

Polk County Public Schools removed six book titles from libraries and classrooms in the last academic year, according to an annual report from the Florida Department of Education.

The six titles deemed incompatible with state law are “Adjustment Day,” by Chuck Palahniuk; “Empire of Storms,” by Sarah Maas; “Half of a Yellow Sun,” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie; “Nineteen Minutes,” by Jodi Picoult; “Storm and Fury,” by Jennifer Armentrout; and “Tricks,” by Ellen Hopkins.

Under Florida law, school districts must review books after receiving objections over their content from citizens. Challenges to the six titles all came from Robert Goodman, executive director of Citizens Defending Freedom, a conservative political group that formed in Polk County in 2021.

Local schools received the challenges in the spring, and school committees met to review the titles based on district criteria and state statutes, district spokesperson Kyle Kennedy said.

“School committees voted to remove these following titles after reading books in their entirety, determining they did not align with current requirements,” Kennedy said by email.

The titles were only available in high schools, Kennedy said. The decision to remove them applies to all school and classroom libraries in the district.

“The Polk County School Board and district review committee were not involved in the process, as the books were removed at the school level,” Kennedy said. “Should a school committee vote to retain a book, the complainant can appeal the decision to the district appeal committee. Based on the district review committee’s finding, the superintendent makes the recommendation to the school board.”

Polk County Public Schools is still reviewing other titles that were challenged in the last academic year, Kennedy said. The total number was not available Thursday.

In 2022, the district adopted a policy for responding to challenges of books, including instructional texts, library books and assigned reading. The policy set timelines for the handling of citizen petitions, with reviews carried out by hearing officers appointed by the board, and described a process for appealing decisions.

"I'm thankful after three years of discussion, Polk County has finally decided that books that violate Florida Statutes 1006.28 and 847.012 should not be available to minor children as young as 13 years old with no parental permission or consent in our Public School Libraries," Goodman said by email. "These books are readily available for parents to purchase from any bookstore, or in the adult section of many public libraries. R-Rated movies are not allowed in public schools, but parents are welcome to attend those movies with their minor child. This is no different." 

Citizens Defending Freedom compiled a list of books in Polk County schools that it considers in violation of state guidelines. The list, published in April, can be found www.counties.citizensdefendingfreedom.com/fl-polk/resources/what-is-really-in-the-polk-county-public-school-libraries-11-13-23-version.

Palahniuk’s “Adjustment Day,” published in 2018, is a dystopian tale of a future United States devolving into separate regions. “Empire of Storms,” from 2016, is part of a fantasy series detailing wars between rival kingdoms.

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“Half of a Yellow Sun,” a 2006 novel from a Nigerian-American author, is a fictional chronicle of the Biafran War of the late 1960s. Picoult’s “Nineteen Minutes,” from 2007, explores a fictional school shooting.

“Storm and Fury,” a 2019 novel, is a fantasy-romance about a teenage girl capable of communicating with ghosts and spirits. ”Tricks,” from 2009, is a young adult verse novel involving five teenagers who fall into prostitution.

"Tricks" and "Nineteen Minutes" were among 16 books challenged in late 2021 by Citizens Defending Freedom. The school district formed advisory panels that reviewed the books. On one of the panels, 15people voted to keep “Tricks” in high school libraries, one voted to also allow it in middle schools, one voted to remove it from all libraries and no one said it should be placed in all PCPS libraries. On another panel, 14 members voted to keep “Nineteen Minutes” on high school library shelves. One person voted to remove it from all media centers.

After the school district returned all the books to library shelves, Citizens Defending Freedom threatened a lawsuit. In August 2022, Goodman began filing police reports about the books with several local police agencies. None took action.

Florida leads the nation in the number of book titles rendered unavailable in public schools, according to the American Library Association and the advocacy group PEN America, NBC News reported.

The Department of Education reported that 46 jurisdictions — more than half — disclosed no books removed or discontinued. The list covers county districts as well as such entities as Florida Virtual School and Florida State University Lab School.

Clay County reported barring nearly 300 titles from its shelves. Books deemed inappropriate in at least one district included such acclaimed fiction as “The Handmaid’s Tale,” by Margaret Atwood; “A Good Man Is Hard To Find,” by Flannery O’Connor; “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” by Maya Angelou; and “Beloved,” by Toni Morrison.

Other titles included “Anne Frank's Diary: The Graphic Adaptation,” by Ari Folman; and “A Stolen Life: A Memoir,” by Jaycee Lee Dugard.

Citizens Defending Freedom filed a lawsuit in March accusing Polk County Public Schools of violating state law in its handling of book challenges.

The district filed a motion to have the suit dismissed, but Circuit Judge Michael McDaniel denied the motion in August. A hearing in the case is scheduled for Feb. 3.

Information from Ledger archives was used in this report. Gary White can be reached at [email protected] or 863-802-7518. Follow on X @garywhite13.