Five members of the Cobb County Board of Education shot down policy changes that would have limited what types of books could be removed from Cobb school libraries, and by whom.
Board member Becky Sayler, a Democrat, proposed the additions to the board’s policy about library materials. The changes would have allowed content that has won awards, content being used in a competition and significant religious texts to be used in school libraries, unless the material is in violation of state laws. The changes would also reinforce that committees at the school level would decide whether titles should be removed or restricted. The school-level committees could not reconsider materials that were restricted or removed by the district-level media committee.
Currently, district rules and state law adopted in 2022 outline a process for parents to complain about content that is potentially harmful to minors. Complaints go to school principals for a decision, and appeals are decided by the school board. The school-level media committees can also handle requests to reconsider materials, according to Cobb’s current policy, which was last updated in 2012.
Sayler was concerned that without the additions to the policy, the district would continue to experience a “chill effect” as staff members limit what materials are accessible in schools out of fear of repercussions. Cobb, the state’s second-largest district, has become a regular stage for culture wars this school year.
“I’m concerned that without these additions, this chill effect will limit the intellectual reach of our students,” she said at Thursday’s board meeting.
But the board’s four Republican members and Democrat Leroy “Tre’” Hutchins voted against the proposed changes, arguing that the power to remove books should lie with the superintendent.
“I could never support a policy that gives an unelected organization authority to make decisions that Cobb families and educators should be making,” said board member David Chastain.
Cobb’s policies about books came under scrutiny in August, when a teacher was fired for reading a book about gender identity to elementary students. At the time, her attorneys argued that the district’s policies about “controversial” materials were vague. She and her attorneys are asking the state Board of Education to overturn her termination.
Later, the school district removed two books from libraries for containing “sexually explicit” content. An outside group, “Libs of TikTok,” claimed credit for getting the books removed. Some community members argued that the district broke its own policies by allowing a group with no apparent ties to the district to initiate a complaint. Sayler said her proposed changes were attempting to clarify the process for considering removals when they’re not initiated by a parent complaint.
Cobb Superintendent Chris Ragsdale said during a September board meeting that it’s his job to keep “lewd, vulgar, sexually explicit, obscene or pornographic material” out of schools, and that the number of awards a book has earned doesn’t supersede inappropriate content.
“This policy as written would not allow me to remove a book that contained one-and-a-half pages description of oral sex from children having unsupervised access to that material,” Ragsdale said Thursday, referencing the removed book “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl.”
Sayler emphasized that pornographic material in schools is illegal and that the policy changes would not have any effect on that.
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