Florida's House of Representatives is moving forward with a bill that could result in fees for people who challenge numerous library books or learning materials that could then be removed from schools.
HB 7025, approved by the House Choice and Innovation Subcommittee last week, calls for people who make objections to more than five instructional materials during a calendar year to be assessed $100 for each additional objection, the Miami Herald reported.
The proposed fees would apply to "a parent or resident who does not have a student enrolled in the school" where the material is located.
The fee requirement was not included in the Florida Senate in three school "deregulation" bills passed last week.
Sue Woltanski, chair of the Monroe County School Board, supported the proposed fees.
"I'm sure you've seen the data that the majority of the books that are being challenged across the country come from 11 individuals, and two of them live here in Florida," Woltanski said, the Herald reported.
"And it is a cumbersome burden to small school districts to have to have staff to review those books in time."
Ryan Kennedy, a program manager with the Florida Citizens Alliance, opposed the fee part of the House bill.
"At Florida Citizens Alliance, we've been advocating for the removal of obscene materials. We just want to make sure that this is not a hindrance to that process," Kennedy said, the Herald reported.
"For example, Collier County recently removed over 300 books. With that five-book challenge threshold, that would be a lot of people you would need to get to object to books. The school district removed it, they found those books objectionable."
In March 2022, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law legislation giving parents a say in what books schools can and can't have in their libraries.
DeSantis last year said critics of the law are perpetrating a "hoax" by calling it a "book ban."
"They are trying to say that because we have parental rights, and because we have curriculum transparency, if you have a book that has hard core pornography in a library that 10-year-olds can access, because a parent objects to that, that does not satisfy Florida standards," DeSantis said. "That should not be in the library with those young kids, and I think 99% of parents agree with that."
Florida had 1,218 objections to books and other materials during the 2022-2023 fiscal year, according to a House staff analysis.
A total of 386 books were removed from schools.
"Over half of the objections came from two school districts, Clay and Escambia. Clay County district schools reported 489 objections that resulted in removal of 177 book titles. Escambia County public schools reported 215 objections that resulted in the removal of nine book titles," the analysis said, the Herald reported.
The Associated Press contribute to this story.
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