(NEW YORK) – As cultural debates over race and LGBTQ+ issues rage in school districts across the country, parents and students in North Texas are on the front lines of a heated battle over the books that rocked a community in Tarrant County.

In a 4-2 vote with one member abstaining, the Keller Independent School District School Board passed new “content guidelines” last month that require books in school libraries and classrooms to class be reviewed for their content to determine if they are appropriate. for certain age groups. Books that violate the policy may be evaluated by challenge committees and may be removed from circulation.

“Texas has by far the most bans of any state, by far the most districts engaging in book bans and other forms of district-level education censorship,” Jeremy said. Young, senior director of free speech and education at PEN America, a nonprofit organization. working to advance freedom of expression through literature, at ABC News.

A sweeping policy limiting books based on content was also passed last week by the Grapevine-Colleyville ISD School Board, a neighboring school district in Tarrant County.

“We really haven’t seen such broad, comprehensive and inclusive policies as we see in these districts in Tarrant County and elsewhere in Texas,” Young told ABC News.

What is the policy?

Laney Hawes, a parent of four school-age children at Keller ISD Schools, told ABC News ‘ hello america that the policy is going “too far” and she fears it could lead to a widespread book ban.

“Ultimately, a book ban checklist is going to wreak havoc and chaos in our school district, and it violates our children’s constitutional rights,” Hawes said.

The new Keller ISD policy is essentially a rubric that lists various themes on which books in libraries and classrooms will be judged: profanity, kissing, horror, violence, underage drug or alcohol use, tobacco use by minors, drug and alcohol consumption. by adults, glorification of suicide, self-harm or mental illness, brief description of non-sexual nudity, sexually explicit conduct or descriptions of sexual abuse, illustrations or depiction of naked private body parts, passionate kisses and/or or prolonged, as well as sex scenes or sexual activities.

“School boards cannot remove books from libraries that they believe do not meet their individual morality standards,” Hawes said.

“How do you teach these things without tackling sometimes difficult, devastating, and gritty topics? she added.

Texas State Rep. Matt Krause, who represents Tarrant County’s 93rd District, said CMG that he has received “numerous complaints” from parents in his district about “inappropriate materials” in schools and that policies like Keller ISD’s are needed to protect children.

“As a father, I want to make sure there are age-appropriate materials in our schools,” Krause said.

Trustee Ruthie Keyes, one of two board members who voted against the policy, expressed concern at the board meeting that the language was too vague and the grading system was too subjective.

“Of the seven teachers I spoke to, they said they should remove two-thirds of their books,” Keyes said at the August 22 school board meeting.

School board members who voted for the policy argued that it was “guidelines” to help book challenge committees and was meant to protect children from inappropriate content. ABC News reached out to all seven directors and Keller ISD Superintendent Rick Westfall, but requests for comment were either declined or not returned.

Administrator Micah Young, who voted for the policy, told the meeting that the guidelines are “not carved in stone” but are a “step in the right direction”.

“I don’t fight with it at all because at the end of the day, we’re talking about children, we’re talking about minors, we want to protect them,” administrator Sandi Walker said at the meeting.

Who does it impact?

The Keller ISD policy does not identify specific groups, but Jeremy Young said the policy could allow conservative parents, politicians or advocates to target LGBTQ+ titles or books that address race and racism in America.

“These laws are very vague, and they are intentionally vague because they are easier to pass and also easier to enforce,” he said.

The new Keller ISD policy comes after Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered the Texas Education Agency in November 2021 to investigate so-called “pornography” in public schools — a move critics have argued books targeted at the LGBTQ+ community.

“We really went beyond the simple need to eliminate pornography from our schools,” said trustee Beverly Dixon, who abstained in the vote.

“We need to allow our staff, especially our advisers, to be able to purchase materials as they see fit to meet the needs of their students,” she added.

This concern was raised at the school board meeting last month, where dozens of community members voiced their opposition to the guidelines.

Cameron Munn, a gay senior at Keller High School, spoke out against the policy in an impassioned speech to the school board.

“Your attempt to legislate and ban these stories hurts so many students like me,” he said.

According to a PEN America report documenting book bans in school libraries and classrooms between July 1, 2021 and March 31, 2022, the surge in bans reflects a “disproportionate targeting of books by or on people whose identities and stories have traditionally been underrepresented in children’s books”. and literature for young adults, such as people of color, LGBTQ+ people, or people with disabilities.

mun said CMG that the new policy further isolates students like him, who have found solace in books about the LGBTQ+ experience.

“A lot of kids don’t have support at home and don’t have support at school and don’t have peer support,” Munn said.

“Declaring war on their only safe space… [is] is going to lead to children being in very dark spaces,” he added.

After Texas passed controversial laws last fall banning critical race theory in the classroom and limiting discussions of sexuality, Krause urged the Texas Education Agency in October 2021 to launch an investigation into the ” content of the school district”.

Along with the letter, Krause included a list of about 850 books that cover a range of topics — from racism and US history, to sex education and LGBTQ+ issues, and urged schools to take an “inventory” to find out if these books are on the shelves.

“This list is not exhaustive, it is not exclusive. And the mere presence of a book on this list does not mean that it was objectionable or inappropriate,” he said.

According to Krause, the list was not meant to be shared publicly, but was leaked last fall. Over the past year, Krause’s list has become a rallying cry for conservatives in Texas and other states pushing for the books to be challenged or banned.

“It saddens me,” said author Jacqueline Woodson CMG.

Four of Woodson’s books are on Krause’s list, including Red to the boneand have been challenged or banned in various states – from Texas to Pennsylvania.

“One of the things Red to the bone we’re talking about is the Tulsa race massacre,” Woodson said.

“If we try to sanitize literature and sanitize American history, kids will see through,” she added. “[Kids] understand this world on a level so much deeper than some people tend to think. And they have questions, and it should be okay to ask questions.

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