A watchdog group is protesting actions taken by the Nassau County School Board that appear to be directed toward returning pornography to the government schools, in violation of Florida law.
Citizens Defending Freedom has written to the board asking that it review a decision to negotiate a settlement in a lawsuit filed by the author of a book removed from schools.
Executive Director Jack Knocke reminded board members that CDF had commended the school district for removing 36 inappropriate books from the school libraries.
“Our local school district has every right to curate books for our community based on our community values,” he said.
But the authors of one of the removed books, And Tango Makes Three, had filed a suit seeking to force the district to return all the removed books to library bookshelves. They absurdly claim a First Amendment right to make the material available to children.
They claim the book about two queer penguins is “true” and “heartwarming.”
Another book, titled Almost Perfect, is about a teenage boy who falls in love with another male. It contains 90 instances of language the School Board would not allow adults to speak during its meetings or children to speak in school. It is directed toward children ages 3 to 8.
Knocke said the Aug. 8 workshop at which the issue was discussed may have violated Florida’s “sunshine” laws regarding public meetings.
He has made a public records request in an effort to find out precisely what kind of settlement is being sought and whether it entails returning the books to the schools. Video of the meeting appears to show a unanimous vote to seek a settlement that involves restoring the books, without admitting any wrongdoing.
It is possible the board did not follow procedure, as alleged in the lawsuit, and that it is going back to Square One to do the process over and could still remove inappropriate books in the end. But it should not surrender to those who side with groomers, pornographers and pedophiles.
“Our schools are for educating and not for indoctrination of radical ideologies, racist, sexist and animal behavior as normal for humans.” Knocke said in his letter.
“We ask that you reconsider your hasty and ill-advised decision to return these books to the Nassau County Library bookshelves and classrooms. If parents want their children to read these books, there are plenty of commercial outlets for them to source the books.”
Taxpayer funded public schools are not the place to promote such materials, he said.
Parents across the nation, and especially in Florida, have been fighting the past few years to protect children from pornography and “woke” indoctrination. CDF in Nassau should be commended for its diligence.
