North Texas school districts are beginning to plan for a new law that could ban books on the recommendation of some parents.
Called a “parental rights” bill, Senate Bill 13 says districts can create a school library council that would be responsible for recommending which books can enter a school library, and which need to be removed. Signed into law after the recent regular session, it goes into effect Sept. 1.
Both Coppell ISD and Grand Prairie ISD are set to discuss at their meetings Monday night the steps they’re taking to establish their councils.
If a district doesn’t opt to form a council, parents can petition trustees to create one. It would take 10% of a district’s enrolled students - or 50 parents total, whichever is fewer - to force creation of a SLAC.
SB13 also lets parents know which books their child checks out of the library and allows them to prevent their kids from reading certain titles.
Critics said SB13 takes library book purchases out of the hands of librarians and educators, and into those of trustees and their chosen members. The majority of voting council members must be parents with students enrolled in the school.
This handful of parents that are handpicked get to then have the final say on the books that can be in school libraries,” Laney Hawes, co-founder of the Texas Freedom to Read Project, told KERA News in March. “It is going to be devastating for a lot of districts.”
But proponents of the bill, authored by McKinney Republican state Sen. Angela Paxton, say it gives parents the power to control and approve what their children read.
In a statement earlier this year, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said in a statement the bill keeps “sexual content” and “woke ideologies” out of school libraries.
“Students need access to books that are grade, age, and developmentally appropriate,” he said.
Once established, the councils would meet at least twice a year.
Bill Zeeble is KERA’s education reporter. Got a tip? Email Bill at bzeeble@kera.org. You can follow him on X @bzeeble.
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