Keller ISD officials adopted new guidelines for reviewing and removing books from schools during a contentious Monday meeting.
The majority of a raucous crowd of commentators raised concerns that the district’s Board of Trustees was imposing restrictions on materials for political reasons and to alienate certain populations of students, such as LGBTQ kids and teens.
The decision came just days after the school district garnered national attention for pulling 41 books from school shelves, including the Bible and an adaptation of Anne Frank’s diary. Some of those had previously passed a challenge in the district.
Board president Charles Randklev said the new guidelines had to be adopted as part of a corrective action plan following an investigation by the Texas Education Agency into what books Keller ISD allows children to access.
Randklev added that last year’s firestorm debate over the book Gender Queer meant the district needed to revisit its book policies. The memoir was removed after a parent complained that the book contained pornographic drawings.
“We need to be honest that there was some stuff that got in, and it freaked parents out,” he said.
But several speakers said the updated policies could limit students’ access to books with diverse viewpoints or about different groups of people.
Cameron Munn, a senior at Keller High School, said that growing up he often felt ostracized for being gay. As early as elementary school, he would spend lunch alone, reading books he checked out from the library.
“I loved being able to finally relate to a character and feel truly seen and authentically for the first time in my life,” Munn told board members. “A lot of students feel the same way I did.”
TEA’s investigation into Keller ISD came about due to concerns that it had sexually explicit books available to children.
The new policies prohibit content that includes horror, drug or alcohol use by minors, tobacco use, “glorification of suicide, self-harm or mental illness,” and material considered sexually explicit from elementary schools.
The guidelines become increasingly less restrictive in older grade levels. However, content that includes detailed sex scenes, illustrations or descriptions of “nude intimate body parts” and “sexually explicit conduct or descriptions of sexual abuse” will be prohibited at all levels.
Materials challenged by parents or community members must be held in a separate part of the library away from the general circulation and only made available with parental consent.
Munn and other speakers said limiting access to books, particularly about LGBT characters, takes away what is sometimes the only safe space for students to be themselves.
“By banning or even segregating these writings, you speak clear messages about the value placed on these certain people,” said Marty Baker, a local pastor and father of two Keller ISD students.
Board vice president Sandi Walker said several elementary school teachers told her they were “grateful for the boundaries.”
But other board members, including Ruthie Keyes, worried the policies could handcuff teachers or lead to unequal implementation due to vague definitions in the guidelines.
“I don’t use profanity. I don’t use drugs or alcohol. No one in my house does. But I’m not in the fourth grade,” Keyes said. “If I read The Best Christmas Pageant Ever and someone is smoking a cigar — you can’t read that anymore evidently.”
Randklev introduced more specific definitions for some of the terms, and the board amended definitions of “sexually explicit conduct or descriptions of sexual abuse” to exclude material that supports approved curriculum.
Board member Beverly Dixon abstained from the vote after the amendments were introduced, saying she felt the policies were “too muddled.” She added that neither the board nor the community had a chance to thoroughly review the amendments.
Others praised the board for changing book policies.
When and how the more than 40 books removed last week will be returned to schools was unclear Monday night. The district’s website noted that some were already returned as of Friday, including I Am Jazz, The Storm in the Barn, Anne Frank’s Diary (The Graphic Adaptation) and all versions of the Bible.
Notably, Gender Queer is no longer available in the district.
Several of those books tell the stories of LGBT and Black characters. Many were previously flagged but later approved by a Keller ISD committee to remain in schools.
Superintendent Rick Westfall said it was the district’s intention to ensure books, even those previously reviewed by the district’s Book Challenge Committee and approved to return, met the new guidelines.
For months, Keller ISD staff, parents and community members met behind closed doors to review challenged books and determine whether they should remain in classrooms or libraries, but as of last week those decisions seemed moot.
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