Reynolds: Law ‘clear’ on which school books to bar

DES MOINES — Gov. Kim Reynolds on Wednesday defended a new state law that requires schools to pull books with descriptions of sex acts from library shelves as the Iowa Department of Education said it may provide more guidance to schools trying to navigate the restrictions.

Passed by Iowa’s legislative Republicans and signed into law by Reynolds this year, the measure requires that school libraries include only "age-appropriate" material and specifically bans any book that describes or depicts any of a list of defined sex acts.

The law also requires schools to notify parents if a student requests to be called by a different name or set of gender pronouns and bans teaching about gender identity or sexual orientation in kindergarten through sixth grade. Schools must also provide a policy to request removal of any classroom materials, and request parental permission before a student takes a survey or exam to assess the student’s mental, emotional or physical health that is not required by state or federal law.

Reynolds read the list of sex acts written in law that would warrant a removal from libraries, and said the standard should be clear on what is and is not allowed in schools.

“I’m not sure why any kindergartner, or anybody in school, should be subjected to that, and what value that brings to them,” Reynolds said. “So that’s the definition. It is very, very clear.”

According to a database maintained by the Des Moines Register, districts in Iowa have removed at least 450 books from their shelves in response.

Many districts have removed commonly challenged books like "Gender Queer" and "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian." Books that are often assigned as high school reading, like George Orwell’s "1984" and Aldous Huxley’s "Brave New World," have also been pulled by several districts.

Education and library advocates have argued an overly broad interpretation of the law by school districts trying to avoid legal repercussions will lead to schools pulling materials off library shelves that should not be removed, depriving students of the opportunity to read books they otherwise would.

Speaking about the removal of commonly assigned books, Reynolds suggested school districts are implementing broad restrictions because they don’t like the law. She said the books that fall under the definition of a sex act in the law should be clear.

"I think it's pretty clear, and if they can't distinguish that, then I don't know, maybe we ought to look at what they should be dealing with," Reynolds said. "It's just a distraction. And they don't like it, so they're blowing it out of proportion."

Reynolds tied the effort to remove books with sexual content from schools to the need to boost scores in reading, math and other areas that have lagged because of learning loss from the pandemic.

"Our kids and our teachers deserve better," she said. "They deserve the tools to help these kids succeed. Not a damn distraction on a nasty pornographic book that should never, ever be in a classroom."

State board may provide guidance

The Iowa State Board of Education has until Dec. 28 to begin promulgating rules to implement several provisions of the new law. However, it remains unclear whether state officials will issue new rules or guidance related to removing school library materials and instruction related to sexual orientation or gender identity that’s now barred in kindergarten through sixth grade

Heather Doe, communications director for the Iowa Department of Education, did not specify which provisions of the law for which the State Board of Education will promulgate rules.

A specific date for the board to consider proposed rules has not been set yet, Doe said. The standard rulemaking process takes at least 108 days, but no more than 180 days, she added.

Penalties for violating the law take effect on Jan. 1.

State officials will give first-time offenders a written warning. Subsequent violations could lead to superintendents and employees being called before the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners for a hearing and possible disciplinary action, according to the law.

Iowa Department of Education officials this summer left vague their plans to give school administrators more guidance on what constitutes “age-appropriate” material and which books would or would not fall under that definition, including materials referencing any type of gender identity and sexual orientation.

The board’s president during a meeting this summer noted school officials and administrators across the state have clamored for guidance from the department in part to avoid the possibility of litigation over book removals.

Melissa Peterson, legislative and policy director with the Iowa State Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, said by her reading of the law, it does not compel rulemaking by the state board related to school library materials, but does for other, less controversial provisions.

Left to seek their own legal guidance, some schools initially removed hundreds of books, while others have waited, hoping for direction from the state before the law's penalties go into effect.

Peterson pointed to the Urbandale Community School District, which paused its initial removal of nearly 400 books from shelves that may violate the law, narrowing down the list to 64 titles after more careful review.

The Iowa City Community School District this month released a list of about 70 book titles removed from schools to comply with the new law. The list includes Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye,” which tells the story of a young Black girl after the Great Depression, and Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale,” a futuristic dystopian novel set in a patriarchal, white supremacist, totalitarian state that has overthrown the United States. It also includes "A Thousand Acres,“ a novel written by Jane Smiley, a graduate of the Iowa Writer’s Workshop at the University of Iowa.

Peterson said the ISEA continues to be disappointed that the Education Department has not issued better guidance to schools on how to navigate the thornier provisions of the law. Peterson said she’s cautiously optimistic the State Board of Education will compel the department to issue guidance at its next meeting Nov. 15.

“We have lot of important work ahead of us in public education, and when you take into consideration staff shortages and the needs of students, unnecessary distractions are not appreciated at this point,” Peterson said. “ … We shouldn’t be making it harder for folks to do their job and be in compliance.”