Florida school district pulls 1,600 books for being “Inappropriate”

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Escambia County school district in Florida has removed over 1,600 books from its shelves for “review” in accordance with new law, HB 1069. Included in the long list of temporarily removed books are five dictionaries, eight encyclopedias and The Guinness Book of World Records.

The new legislation is seen as an extension of the Parental Rights in Education Act. Bill 1069 was signed in May by Gov. Ron DeSantis, and took effect in July 2023. The bill is part of a series of new laws in the state legislature which look to regulate how sex, sexual conduct, and gender identity are taught in public schools.

According to a training presentation obtained by the Florida Freedom to Read Project and shared by CBS News, sexual conduct refers to, “Any sexually oriented material.” This includes books which have depictions of sexual activity, uncovered human genitals, sexual intercourse, sexual bestiality, and any novels which have the topic of sexual battery/assault as part of the story. 

Anyone can challenge any book that falls under the law, such as the Dictionary

The bill stats that any book which is deemed questionable under this new law, “must be removed within 5 school days of receipt of the objection,” and cannot be returned to shelves until it is reviewed.

Any parent, community member, staff or student can challenge materials which fall under the law. This is how the Escambia County school board, other school boards, and libraries in Florida have found themselves with an enormous amount of books being pulled from their shelves and faced with the daunting task of putting all of them through a rigorous review process- one by one.Once a book is challenged, they are removed from the shelves in order to be reviewed. The district started reviewing books last July, when the law came into effect, and as reported by CBS news, as of mid- January, fewer than 100 titles of the 1,600 had been reviewed so far.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the Escambia County school district, shared that the books “Have not been banned or removed from the school district. Rather, they have simply been pulled for further review to ensure compliance with the new legislation.”
Stephana Ferrell, director of research and insight at the Florida Freedom to Read Project shared ,”We applaud them for doing their due diligence to read and discuss every book before making a decision to permanently ban it from schools, but they need more dedicated, trained staff to help support this effort. Most of these books, though pulled temporarily as the district has stated, will never be accessible in the school library for most current secondary students.”

Below is an example of a Book Challenge process from Leon County School in Tallahassee, Florida.

Florida has one of the highest banning rates in the country, and educators not complying with the new laws can end up in hot water.

Heather Felton, a high school English teacher in Bradenton Florida, shared with Tampa Bay Times, “Any school can ban whatever it wants,” she said. “If one person challenges it, it gets pulled and there’s a whole process.”

Educators not following this procedure can be charged with a third-degree felony. A teacher or librarian could face up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine for displaying or sharing banned books with students.

Although the new laws focus on younger children and not high school, Felton feels like it’s only time before the law gets expanded into broader censoring, “You watch,” she kept saying. “They’re coming for us next.”

A State Divided

Several polls have shown that the people of Florida are very divided on this issue

A 2022 Politico poll asked respondents about Florida’s Parental Rights in Education bill.

  • 51 percent of those polled supported the “banning the teaching of sexual orientation and gender identity from kindergarten through third grade.”
  • 35 percent of respondents were opposed.
  • The poll also found that 52 percent of respondents supported limiting lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity after third grade to “age appropriate” discussions.

A May 2023 Civiqs poll had similar results.


An avid book reader and proud library card holder, Angela is new to the world of e-Readers. She has a background in education, emergency response, fitness, loves to be in nature, travelling and exploring. With an honours science degree in anthropology, Angela also studied writing after graduation. She has contributed work to The London Free Press, The Gazette, The Londoner, Best Version Media, Lifeliner, and Citymedia.ca.



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