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Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
10 more books pulled from South Carolina public school shelves
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCBD) — Another 10 books have joined the growing list of titles banned from South Carolina public school libraries and classrooms following a Tuesday vote by the State Board of Education. The board voted during its May 6 meeting to pull the books from all K-12 shelves as part of a larger agenda. Dr. David O'Shields and Rev. Tony Vincent were the only dissenting votes. The Instructional Review Materials Board recommended on March 13 that the titles be removed under a rule adopted last June that bars books containing descriptions or visual depictions of 'sexual conduct.' The addition of these 10 books brings the total number of removed or restricted titles to 22, meaning South Carolina surpasses Utah as the nation's leader in state-mandated book bans for all schools, according to nonprofit PEN America. The latest set of removed materials includes the following: Tricks by Ellen Hopkins Lucky by Alice Sebold Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas Identical by Ellen Hopkins Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas Hopeless by Colleen Hoover Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimananda Ngozi Adichie Collateral by Ellen Hopkins The decision comes weeks after the board moved to delay consideration during its April 1 meeting in to allow for further legal guidance on the review process. The regulation uses the definition for 'sexual conduct' outlined in a portion of the state's obscenity law to determine what is considered 'age and developmentally appropriate' material for K-12 schools. While some public educators testified that the definition was too broad and left room for inconsistency in what is and isn't allowed, a Department of Education staff attorney argued that precedent had already been established. The attorney, Robert Cathcart, said that passages in some of the books were long enough and contained enough explanatory detail to 'paint that mental image' required to meet the removal standard previously set by the board. But, O'Shields, the superintendent of Laurens County School District 56, was doubtful that the statute was correctly interpreted during review, pointing to a section of the code that says material should be considered 'as a whole.' He warned of unintended legal consequences, while also noting that only half of the titles were even available at one of his district's high schools, with some having only been checked out a handful of times. 'I can't in good conscience, after having done my own autopsy of what we have, I cannot and will, if necessary, be the only dissenting vote because I think we're misreading the law,' O'Shields said at the time. Critics have also taken issue with how books are challenged. The regulation established a system by which parents can challenge materials in their child's school that they believe fail to meet the standard. Parents must make a 'good faith effort' to address their concerns at the district level first, but can appeal local decisions to the State Board of Education. In this case, the challenge of 10 titles originated from one parent in Beaufort County — the same parent who has sought to have more than 90 titles pulled from public school shelves statewide. 'The state is continuing to leave educational decisions for all students up to one parent,' said Josh Malkin, advocacy director for the ACLU of South Carolina. 'This is problematic and counter to the foundational democratic ideals of public education.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCBD News 2.
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
South Carolina Board of Education votes to ban 10 more books from schools
SOUTH CAROLINA (WSAV) – South Carolina is now leading the nation in a new category, banned books. The South Carolina Board of Education voted to take 10 more books off school library shelves on Tuesday. That brings the total to 22 different titles banned from schools. The books were all challenged by a Beaufort County woman for their inappropriate or sexual content. The State Board of Education's Instructional Materials Review Committee (IMRC) recommended banning Regulation 43-170, which deems any book containing a description of 'sexual conduct' age-inappropriate for all students from kindergarten through 12th grade. This vote was delayed by a month after Board members expressed concerns about the wording of the regulation which allowed them to ban books statewide. The 10 books were officially removed from public school libraries and classroom collections in the state include: 'Collateral' by Ellen Hopkins 'Empire of Storms' by Sarah J. Maas 'Half of a Yellow Sun' by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 'Hopeless' by Colleen Hoover 'Identical' by Ellen Hopkins 'Kingdom of Ash' by Sarah J. Maas 'Last Night at the Telegraph Club' by Malinda Lo 'Living Dead Girl' by Elizabeth Scott 'Lucky' by Alice Sebold 'Tricks' by Ellen Hopkins There was no discussion during the meeting about the titles. Two State Schoolboard members, David O'Shields and the Rev. Tony Vincent did not vote to ban the books. 'The state is continuing to leave educational decisions for all students up to one parent,' said Josh Malkin, Advocacy Director for the ACLU of South Carolina. 'This is problematic and counter to the foundational democratic ideals of public education.' The board previously voted to remove or restrict access to the following titles: 'Damsel' by Elana Arnold 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower' by Stephen Chbosky 'Flamer' by Mike Curato 'Ugly Love' by Colleen Hoover 'All Boys Aren't Blue' by George M. Johnson 'A Court of Frost and Starlight' by Sarah J. Maas 'A Court of Mist and Fury' by Sarah J. Maas 'A Court of Thorns and Roses' by Sarah J. Maas 'A Court of Wings and Ruin' by Sarah J. Maas 'Normal People' by Sally Rooney 'Push' by Sapphire Ellen Hopkins' novel 'Crank' is now under restricted access. It is still in high school libraries, but a parent or guardian must fill out an opt-in form for a student to borrow it. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSAV-TV.
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
10 more books must be removed from SC public K-12 schools, board rules
From left to right, state Board of Education Chair David O'Shields, attorney John Tyler, Chair-Elect Rita Allison, Joette Johnson and Joyce Crimminger hear a report during a meeting Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. The board voted Tuesday, May 6, 2025, to remove 10 more books from public school libraries. (Skylar Laird/SC Daily Gazette) COLUMBIA — Another 10 books must be removed from school library shelves, the state Board of Education decided Tuesday, a month after questioning its own regulation banning 'sexual conduct' from K-12 public schools. The 15-2 vote brings the total number of books librarians have been required to remove from shelves to 21 since the regulation went into effect last June. Another six books have been allowed to stay, one with the stipulation that parents must give approval for their children to check it out. Books removed Tuesday Source: Instructional Materials Review Committee The board hesitated to remove the books from shelves at its meeting April 1 amid misgivings from some members about the frequency and content of the book challenges coming before them. Board members gave no public explanation for the sudden change of heart. The board took a single, voice vote to remove the 10 books with no discussion as part of a broader agenda that included several other approvals. Tony Vincent and David O'Shields, the two members to say 'no,' questioned the regulation during a meeting last month, saying it required the board to remove books from shelves based on as little as a few pages in novels of several hundred pages. 'Looking at these books outside of the arc of their full stories is a mistake, in my view,' Vincent, a minister in Seneca, said at the time. He declined to comment further on his vote Tuesday. Before the public meeting began, members had legal questions about the regulation answered during a closed-door session, which seemed to assuage some members' concerns, said Christian Hanley, who leads the committee reviewing the books. Board members have an obligation to follow the regulation they passed, Hanley told the SC Daily Gazette after the meeting. The regulation says any books containing sexual material, no matter how brief, must come off school shelves. The question is not whether board members like the book or feel it has value. Instead, board members must simply determine whether it contains any sexual material, attorneys for the state Department of Education have told the board repeatedly. 'I think that made everyone more comfortable to say, 'Our constituents sent us here to do a job, so let's just roll up our sleeves and do what we're supposed to do and stop delaying that,'' Hanley said. Ken Richardson, who also raised concerns at the April meeting, agreed to approve this round of book removals, but he wasn't sure whether that would remain the case if more come up for consideration at future meetings, he said. Putting time and energy into vetting the books and voting whether to remove them has taken focus from the other issues the board considers, Richardson, former chairman of the Horry Georgetown Technical College board, told the Gazette on Tuesday afternoon. The books that have come up for consideration, in many cases, are rarely checked out in his own district, he said. One parent in Beaufort County has brought 14 of the challenges the state board has considered, and she could bring many more, after bringing 97 requests to remove books to her local school board before the regulation went into place. That means the challenges could continue until the board has considered all 97 books. And Richardson has heard from at least one other parent claiming to have found hundreds more books that could potentially violate the regulation, he said. 'At some point, enough is enough,' Richardson said. Richardson stopped short of suggesting the board change the regulation. His concern lies less with the idea of the regulation, which the board approved unanimously last year, and more with its implementation, he said. 'When you're trying to make decisions for the whole state, you need to think about the whole state,' Richardson said. His concerns echo those of some opponents of the regulation. Josh Malkin, an attorney for the state American Civil Liberties Union, who said he worried the board is allowing one parent to make decisions for everyone. 'This is problematic and counter to the foundational democratic ideals of public education,' Malkin said in a statement soon after the vote. Tuesday's decision makes South Carolina the state with the most books removed from schools at a state level, according to PEN America. South Carolina is one of three states with a regulation allowing the removal of books statewide. Tennessee, one of the other states, has removed no books at the state level. Utah has removed 17, according to PEN America, which tracks book removals across the country.
