A North Texas school district’s vote to keep two sexually explicit books on the shelves has prompted a state lawmaker to file a bill to change state obscenity laws.
Jared Patterson (R-Frisco) has worked with parents and watchdog groups to remove 28 book titles from libraries at Frisco Independent Schools since November 2021.
After a year of fighting, five of the remaining seven books initially challenged were removed when Frisco Independent School District (ISD) trustees voted Nov. 30 on the individual titles.
“Check Please” and “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” remained after three of the five board trustees who showed up voted to keep them. The board vote was a level-three, final appeal to remove a book.
Patterson and Shannon Ayres, a County Citizens Defending Freedom member whose grown children attended Frisco schools, kept the battle of the books in the public eye through appeals and speaking out publicly.
“It’s clear we can’t trust adults to protect our kids,” Patterson told The Epoch Times. The result drove him to introduce House Bill 976 for the legislative session beginning in January.
The bill would remove the current obscenity law exemptions for educational purposes. He noted the bill is one of many proposed by him and other conservative lawmakers to hold accountable those who wish to sexualize children.
“This bill is one of many my office will put forward on this specific issue so that we can hold those accountable who wish to sexualize children,” he said in a Facebook post.
With the educational exception removed, distributing obscene content to children would receive a class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a $4,000 fine and/or up to a year in county jail, according to HB 976.
“No more hiding behind outdated exemptions in the Texas Penal Code to push this smut on our kids,” he posted on Facebook, which drew praise from dozens of parents.
Ayres told The Epoch Times she was happy that 26 of the 28 original books were removed. She believes those board members who didn’t vote to remove the sexually explicit titles will likely face challengers if they seek reelection.
Those who voted to keep the books included Dynette Davis, John Classe, and board president Rene Archambault. Gopal Ponanji and Debbie Gillespie were absent for the vote.
Conservative board members Stephanie Elad and Marvin Lowe voted against keeping all seven books in school libraries.
Classe voted to keep all seven, saying he didn’t want to “second guess” the staff and parents that already reviewed the books and kept them in the libraries.
“I’m going to stick by the process,” he said at the meeting before voting.
Ayres countered that Classe wanted to protect the establishment at the expense of children.
“I think he showed that he ’respects’ the process more than he respects the parents and the well-being of our children,” she said.
Ayres questioned why Archambault voted to keep “Wallflower” available since she objected to its content being read at a Nov. 16 school board meeting when a child was present.
In a viral TikTok video of Ayres reading the book, Archambault can be heard taking over Ayres after her microphone is turned off at the end of her comment period.
“There’s a child in our boardroom, so I'd like for you to please stop reading that,” Archambault said, drawing loud complaints from the audience.
The irony of Archambault’s comment seemed to amaze TikTok viewers—that a school library book was too graphic to be presented in front of children.
She later said she was upset that a child was in the room because her purpose was to protect them from being exposed to inappropriate content.
Ayres explained she decided to begin reading excerpts from books that remained in libraries after making it through at least one review process. Though distasteful, she felt reading passages would focus attention on the remaining books.
In response to a request from The Epoch Times, Matt Wixon of Frisco ISD’s communication department clarified that “Wallflower” and “Glass Castle” were only available in high school libraries.
The district’s statement about book removal said: “When removal of a book is considered by the district, the book is thoroughly reviewed, which may include a full reading of the book, but at a minimum includes a reading of the specific content that a complainant considers objectionable.”
Frisco ISD’s website says parents and community members may object to titles that don’t follow district policy. But it also noted that the district must protect students’ First Amendment rights, which Ayres says is a cop-out.
She pointed out that children don’t get to carry firearms to school to protect their Second Amendment rights.
However, the district allocated $387,000 for new library positions to help with ongoing reviews of library materials to ensure they meet guidelines. According to its website, the district is also working on updating administrative regulations and procedures related to the weeding of library materials and challenging instructional materials.
