BELL COUNTY, Texas (KXXV) — Some changes are coming to your child’s public school library — shakeups that started at the state capitol that are now in your neighborhood.
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Senate Bill 13, which passed during the regular Spring legislative session and goes into affect on Sept. 1, has a focus on increasing parental oversight and control in public school libraries while reflecting the community values within Texas public schools.
SB 13 outlines prohibited materials with language that is considered to be “harmful", "indecent" or "profane."
This particular facet of the bill has faced criticism from some lawmakers as the bill threatens to pull literary classics like 'Romeo and Juliet' or a Texas staple 'Lonesome Dove' from public school libraries.
Part of the bill puts in place a 30-day public viewing period for books being considered by the district before approval.
25 News' Bobby Poitevint spoke with Bell County superintendents on how they are implementing the new guidelines.
“Our board just approved the policy that puts them in the position to approve the library books" said Dr. Bobby Ott, Superintendent with Temple ISD.
He added, “three or four times a year we’ll take the book list to the school board for approval.”
“We haven’t had books challenged — the last time we had a book challenged was in 2018. So we are very transparent about our process with library books" said Dr. Ott.
During the interview, school officials clarified the book was "Death Note" and it was challenged due to it's language not being age appropriate — bumping it from the middle school library to the high school library.
Temple ISD said the rules of SB 13 will now be in addition to the AI process they already have in place for vetting books.
Dr. Ott said teachers will now have to really plan ahead if they want a book vetted as teachers will now wait at least 30 days before it can be in the hands of a child.
The bill also allows for the creation of local committees with parents — if materials are challenged by 50 parents or 10% of the student body.
Belton ISD went ahead and put in place a committee soon after the bill passing proactively, in an effort of providing parental involvement.
“These are challenging conversations — we have to represent the values of the communities in which we serve” said Belton ISD's Superintendent Dr. Malinda Golden.
Dr. Golden said they already had guidelines similar to SB 13's in place at Belton ISD even the possibility of a committee forming if a book was challenged but said this is more of standing committee that's being allowed in "statute."
From here, parents will be selected by Belton ISD school board members to be part of the committee.
