Even without any formal request, Orange County School District Leadership has pulled titles by LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC authors off shelves to the detriment of the children they intended to serve. This sets a precedent that any reigning school board can remove books without the public's knowledge based entirely on their political agenda. District Leadership should be transparent. Please attend the board meeting on February 22nd at 3pm in the School Board Meeting Room of the Ronald Blocker Educational Leadership Center, 445 W. Amelia Street, in downtown Orlando.
After we exposed that the District was shadow banning “All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George M. Johnson, they were forced to return it to shelves and make the e-books available again. Although District Leadership has confirmed that there is currently no challenge against the title, they have taken it upon themselves to review it, much like what happened in Flagler County, where the book was deemed to be appropriate by the review committee, but the Superintendent disagreed and removed it. “All Boys Aren’t Blue” is an award-winning book and just this week made the NY Times Best Sellers list.
Just because one parent does not feel their child should read a particular title does not mean that all children should not. Children grow and thrive when reading lived experiences that they identify with. By removing titles with LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC themes, the District is signaling to these children that they, themselves, are somehow offensive. Please send an email to the board today.
Please Attend the School Board Meeting!
The next School Board meeting is on February 22nd, and will be the last one before the Board holds a work session to review it’s book challenge policy. We can expect that they will be looking to make it harder to get titles on shelves and easier to have them removed. We need to show the District that the majority of Orange County does not condone censorship, racism, homophobia and transphobia. Please attend this meeting on February 22nd at 3pm and show your support.
All meetings are held in the School Board Meeting Room of the Ronald Blocker Educational Leadership Center, 445 W. Amelia Street, in downtown Orlando.
