Student info was included in list of 103,000 books pulled in Brevard schools: What we know
A list released by Brevard Public Schools to an anti-censorship group shows more than 103,000 books pulled from district shelves — as well as sensitive student information.
The list of books that have been pulled from shelves includes titles that often repeat, from recent young adult books to classic children's books, as well as outdated technology. It also includes the names and student identification numbers of students who last checked out books that ended up being lost as far back as 2020. It was sent to Florida Freedom to Read Project, a group that tracks book challenges and bans around the state, and details books pulled between July 2023 and June of this year. The group shared several screenshots of the list to their Facebook page, with the images specifically showing books removed because of HB 1069. The images were cropped to withhold the students' personal information, as well as the names and email addresses of district media specialists.
Under The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA, student information is protected from being disclosed except in specific scenarios or to specific individuals, such as in the case of an audit of education programs, for judicial orders or in connection with a health or safety emergency.
What student information was included?
The student information on the list included first and last names of students who had previously checked out books that had been lost, as well as their identification numbers. This information is protected by FERPA.
"Sensitive information should not have been included in the information that was sent out," said Janet Murnaghan, a spokesperson for Brevard Public Schools. "We will address this with the staff responsible for the failure. We will work to ensure that this does not happen again."
Are the books banned?
Containing the titles of 103,100 books and outdated pieces of technology such as old iPads, the list is a "weeding log" — most of the books aren't banned from the district, but rather, are titles that may have been pulled due to a lack of circulation, damage or similar reasons. Some titles were repeated multiple times on the list, with books like "The Cat in the Hat" by Dr. Seuss, the Junie B. Jones series by Barbara Park and "The Rainbow Fish" by Marcus Pfister pulled from circulation.
While most of the reasons cited for removing books included "lost," "infrequent circulation" and "damaged," two stood out: "HB 1069" and "school board decision."
The first refers to House Bill 1069, which lays out what can and can't be in school libraries and classrooms. The second references a decision made by Brevard's school board. In the past, the board has almost always said they would not remove content without hearing from the public or allowing books to be reviewed by the district review committee first.
In total, 122 books were removed because of the school board, and 169 books — and two DVDs — were removed because of HB 1069.
Most of the books were moved from "one elementary school library to a neighboring middle school library," Murnaghan said. She added that "school-based decisions do not impact district-wide libraries," and that many of the books removed at the request of the school board were part of an obsolete curriculum.
Others — some removed by the board, and some removed because of HB 1069 — had already been previously reported and listed on the district's media website, where books under review are kept track of, she said.
"They're not new," Murnaghan said.
As for "discarded" books, she said that that may mean that they've been sent to another school or to a district warehouse.
What titles were on the list?
The books removed because of HB 1069 or the school board included a variety of titles. Some have been long contested, like "The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green, The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins and numerous titles by Sarah J. Maas, with some parents arguing the sexual content in Maas' books is inappropriate even for high schoolers, and others saying it's age-appropriate for those in upper grades. In the past, the district has opted to remove seven of her titles due to HB 1069, while keeping one — "Empire of Storms" for 10th graders and up.
But other titles have not drawn criticism from even the most conservative readers in the past. These included "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou, "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott, "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley, "Journey to the Centre of the Earth" by Jules Verne, "Treasure Island" by Robert Louis Stevenson, "1984" by George Orwell and "Anne of Green Gables" by L. M. Montgomery.
Most of these titles were moved to a middle school for older readers, Murnaghan said.
How does the book review process work?
The process for reviewing books in Brevard has undergone numerous iterations. Currently, there's an informal and formal review process, as well as an internal review team.
An informal review is prompted when a member of the public submits a complaint about a particular title. That title is then reviewed by media specialists and principals, and a decision whether or not to keep the book is made on a school-by-school basis.
If the person who has made the complaint is unhappy with the results of the informal review, they can submit another complaint and have it reviewed by the five-member district review committee, made up of people selected by the school board and chaired by a media specialist. The review committee reads the book and makes a recommendation to the school board regarding whether or not it should be kept, restricted to a certain grade or banned entirely. Ultimately, it's up to the school board what will happen to the book.
Books can also be reviewed without a complaint by an internal team of district experts. It's not clear how big this team is or who exactly is on it. In the past, this team has — upon reviewing books with material they believe goes against HB 1069 — told all schools in the district to discontinue certain titles from use in multiple emails reviewed by FLORIDA TODAY.
Parents have also been able to circumvent the review process entirely by reading certain passages out loud at school board meetings, as HB 1069 says that if a speaker is stopped for reading pornographic material, the book must be removed from the district.
Changes at the district
Following the release of the list of books, district officials began discussing potential changes to how they catalogue books being removed, with a library media content specialist recommending that they use more specific language.
"We are going to edit the reasons so that you can be more specific if a title is being weeded due to the 4 reasons in HB 1069," said Trish Ely, library media content specialist K-12, in an email obtained by FLORIDA TODAY.
The reasons she referenced include pornographic content; sexual content; content not suited for student needs or comprehension; and content that is inappropriate for a grade level.
Finch Walker is the education reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Walker at [email protected]. X: @_finchwalker.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Student info leaked on list of 103K books pulled from Brevard schools
