A Florida school district says parents are responsible for blocking inappropriate content from a reading program made available by the district to students online. The Florida Department of Education says otherwise.
During the 2022-2023 school year, Kristy L. Agerton-Marshall discovered that her eight-year-old, third-grade daughter was being exposed to books with content prohibited in schools by Florida laws. More disturbing was the revelation that the books are recommended for her daughter through a reading program on her school district’s website.
“I’m just a real angry parent trying to find answers for a child who wants to learn about American history instead of whether she wants to be a boy or a girl,” Kristy Agerton-Marshall told The Epoch Times. “I went online trying to help my daughter find books to take a test in American history, and it’s not there. True American history is not available for my child. But there’s all kinds of LGBT and gender ideology stuff.”
Mrs. Agerton-Marshall said she’s tired of not getting answers or being told it’s her responsibility to block the unwanted content.
“I don’t know what’s in the books until my daughter starts reading it,” she said, adding how the inappropriate content is usually tucked into the middle of the book and, “By then, it’s too late. She’s been exposed to it.”
After posting her discovery on social media, she discovered she was not alone in her outrage.
Ryan Kennedy, Program Manager of Education Policy & Advocacy for Florida Citizens Alliance, told The Epoch Times, “There are many counties across Florida that are not being proactive in removing this inappropriate material, even though it was been made illegal by law.”
The Books
As a third-grader at Bratt Elementary during the 2022-2023 school year, Mrs. Agerton-Marshall’s daughter was exposed to books with content prohibited by Florida laws. These books were recommended for the child through a reading program, purchased by the district, on her personal Chromebook while completing her Accelerated Reader assignments.This was, her mother said, in spite of “strict parental settings.”
As a fourth grader at a charter school called Byrneville Elementary, her daughter discovered—at school, during school hours, through her district-issued Chromebook—that the same prohibited content is still being recommended for her through the reading program.
One book is titled, “My Sister Daisey.”
“This is the perfect book for parents or educators looking to have a conversation around gender identity and pronouns,” he said.
A screenshot supplied by Mrs. Agerton-Marshall shows 10 books that “myON” selected for her daughter after using “LGBTQ” in the search.
“People of Pride,” by Chase Clemesha, features the biographies 25 “proud LGBTQ Americans.
“Each District School Board is Responsible”
While these books are not technically used as part of “classroom instruction,” the school is providing access to this content to children through the Renaissance Learning program.The Epoch Times reached out to the Florida Department of Education (DOE) to find out if providing online access to these books was still in violation of Florida laws.
According to Cailey Myers, Communications Director for the Florida DOE, it is.
“Thank you for bringing this to our attention,” Ms. Myers replied by email. “Fortunately, Governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida Legislature were proactive in passing legislation to prioritize the health, safety, and welfare of students. Ultimately, school districts are responsible for all content made available to Florida students.”
As Ms. Myers noted, Florida Statute (F.S.), section 1006.28(2)(a)1., states that “Each district school board is responsible for the content of all instructional materials and any other materials used in a classroom, made available in a school library, or included on a reading list, whether adopted and purchased from the state-adopted instructional materials list, adopted and purchased through a district instructional materials program under s. 1006.283, or otherwise purchased or made available.”
“Moreover,” she said, “parents or residents of the county have the right to object to the use of a specific material, and districts must have processes in place to address the objections.”
Citing s. 1006.28(2), F.S., Ms. Myers also said the District is obligated to “clearly describe how the district will handle all objections.”
On May 17, Mr. DeSantis signed House Bill 1069 into law. The measure, she said, “established an additional requirement for districts to remove materials that received an objection due to pornographic content or that depict or describe sexual conduct as defined within Florida law within five school days of the receipt of the objection.”
The measure also “provides additional requirements for instruction regarding human sexuality; provides district school boards are responsible for materials used in classroom libraries” and “revises school principal, school district & district school board duties & responsibilities relating to certain materials & processes.”House Bill 1467, approved by Mr. DeSantis on March 25, 2022, “established that elementary schools are now required to publish a searchable list of all materials maintained in the school library media center or required as part of a school or grade-level reading list on their website.”
‘Top-Quality, Comprehensive Education’
The Epoch Times reached out to Escambia County Public Schools Superintendent Keith Leonard, asking how the district planned on addressing this matter.
Cody Strother, Communications Director for the District, replied by email, saying, “Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody has taken the position in legal pleadings that HB 1557 applies to formal classroom instruction, but not to self-selected library materials.”
“Parents of Escambia County Public Schools students have long had the ability to restrict their students’ access to material they deem objectionable,” he said further. “Recently, in an effort to streamline that undertaking, parents were provided with information relative to a new, more efficient process by which they may restrict their students’ library media access.”
In addition, he said, “Any parent with concerns about titles available in our media centers or online platforms should utilize the Library Access forms in our Focus Grade Portal to limit their student’s access. Parents can select ‘Full,’ ‘Limited,’ or ‘No Access’ for their students. Students with ’Limited‘ or ’No Library Access’ will not have access to classroom libraries or digital library collections.”
In closing, he said, “Our Information Technology team is continuously working proactively in updating our security measures relative to acceptable and appropriate internet accessibility within all of our platforms. Escambia County Public Schools is committed to providing all of our students with a top-quality, comprehensive education, while maintaining compliance with state statute.”
Noting the Florida DOE’s position that, “school districts are responsible for all content made available to Florida students,” Mr. Strother reiterated that the IT department “is continuously working proactively in updating our security measures,” and that the district “is committed” to providing students “with a top-quality, comprehensive education while maintaining compliance with state statute.”
‘Putting Themselves at Risk’
Ms. Myers also noted that the Florida DOE developed Rule 6A-7.0713, “to provide school districts with the requirements for the format districts must use on elementary school websites in order to post, and permit searches of, materials maintained in elementary school library media centers and materials found on a required school or a grade-level reading list in an elementary school, including books, ebooks, periodicals, and videos.”
That measure became effective on Nov. 22, 2022.Florida Statute s. 1003.02, and rule 6A-1.0957 require Florida’s school districts “to adopt internet safety policies to ensure students do not have access to inappropriate materials.”
“Policies must first and foremost protect the safety of students when using district internet access, prevent unauthorized access by students to data or information that they should not have access to, and prohibit other unlawful online activities by students,” Ms. Myers said.
“As you can see, Florida has a comprehensive list of rules and statutes that protect our students and the fundamental rights of parents,” she concluded, warning that, “Any district school board or superintendent who fails to acknowledge and follow Florida law are needlessly putting themselves at risk.”
Florida Statutes also provide for sanctions for districts that violate Florida laws.
“We want Renaissance gone,” Mrs. Agerton-Marshall asserted of her family. “I’m angry. The district purchased this program. They have to block this content. Their IT department is supposed to take this off. I’m not going to do their work for them. This program is part of the woke agenda, and it’s pushing this LGBT stuff. If I can keep attorneys out of this, great. But they’re not doing anything, and that’s my whole problem.”In a statement to The Epoch Times, Linda Germain, vice president of marketing for Renaissance Learning, said: “Each school and district has specific federal, state, and local laws they are required to follow. Our product provides local districts and administrators with the flexibility to determine access to specific titles in line with local laws and guidelines as needed.”
