News
by Michael Hernandez, 8-10-24
FERNANDINA BEACH, FL—Nassau County Schools have retracted (as of the Aug. 8 school board meeting) previous action taken, returning three of the 34 books removed from school library book shelves effective immediately (two more were reclassified by age-appropriateness) with no age requirement for And Tango Makes Three by a unanimous board vote. This was part of a lawsuit settlement recommended by School Board Attorney Brett Steger to appease two New York book authors that are demanding that their books be replaced in Nassau County School libraries. District staff will then make recommendations for age and grade appropriateness of the remaining books removed from Nassau County School library bookshelves at a future meeting with public comment allowed.
This recommendation was discussed and agreed upon at a workshop prior to the official school board meeting. That workshop agenda notice did not even specify what was being discussed- just “litigation,” which means that the public had no idea that this was even being discussed in advance, Only one member of the public showed up- we subsequently talked to him. He tells us that it was approved there and then voted on in the board meeting following it, without even being agendized, which might be illegal.
The two New Yorkers who are co-authors of And Tango Makes Three are Peter Parnell (a Broadway playwright and co-producer of the television show The West Wing who lives in New York City) and Dr. Justin Richardson, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Columbia and Cornell (who lectures to parents and teaches on parenting and the sexual development of children).
The three books that Nassau County schools will immediately put back in school libraries are: And Tango Makes Three (a book about two penguins who create a nontraditional family), Almost Perfect by Brian Katcher (a love story between two boys—one who has changed gender) and Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes (about a black boy killed by a police officer).
The plaintiffs in the United States District Court Middle District of Florida lawsuit are: Peter Parnell, Justin Richardson and parents Sara Moerman and Toby (and Robin) Lentz (parents of a 10-year-old fourth grader student and a 14-year-old high school student). The counsel for the plaintiffs are the Manhattan law firm Selendy Gay and Miami, FL law firm of Kenny Nachwalter.
The defendants are the School Board of Nassau County, Florida; Dr. Kathy Burns, Superintendent; Mark Durham, Assistant Superintendent; Misty Mathis, Executive Director of Curriculum & Instruction and Kari Burgess-Watkins, the Director of Instructional Technology & Information Service. Please see link to the 51-page lawsuit:
https://www.citizensjournal.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/And-Three-Makes-Tango-Book-Suit-2.pdf
According to the lawsuit, the Nassau District is home to 17 public school libraries with 236,000 books. The lawsuit stems from a Sept. 8, 2023, Citizens Defending Freedom email sent to Superintendent Kathy Burns by Jack Knocke, Nassau County CDF Executive Director. He initially challenged the presence of 26 books in the Nassau District’s public school library collection on the basis “that they contained material in violation of Florida Statues” including Tango, that was “pornographic and obscene.” The districts book review committee subsequently agreed and all were removed except two, which were reclassified in age appropriateness.
The lawsuit claims that Florida has the highest number of recorded book removals (1,406) from across the country which came about after passage of the Parental Rights in Education Act also labeled by opponents as “Don’t Say Gay.”
The lawsuit does acknowledge that according to Florida Legislation passed in 2022-2023, that “Florida citizens can challenge and school boards can remove or restrict public school library books” and “that individuals may object to and challenge any materials” in school library collections on the basis that the material “depicts or describes sexual conduct.”
To read Nassau County’s School District informal book review of a list of challenged books go to: https://www.citizensjournal.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/District-Review-1.pdf
According to the lawsuit:
- Citizens Defending Freedom (CDF) eventually challenged 36 books and defendants accepted each and every challenge.
- Defendants had no basis to remove Tango for “weeding” (the book was removed in October, 2023 from school libraries).
- Defendants “weeded” two other books challenged by CDV which contain viewpoints defendants disfavor.
- Defendants have previously expressed anti-LGBTQIA+ and racial animus.
(Editor’s Note: The lawsuit claims that School Board members Curtis Gaus and Shannon Hogue have previously expressed animus towards LGBTQIA+ individuals and if re-elected would “support a resolution to prohibit the display of LGBTQ symbols by school authorities reported by Citizens Journal Florida in an Oct. 28, 2022 candidate questionnaire. Gaus and Hogue said they supported Florida’s Don’t Say Gay law, as well as “the removal of sexually explicit materials from the schools.” Hogue also stated: “I personally don’t think gender identity or sexual orientation needs to be discussed with children 3rd grade and under” (reported by the News Leader on Aug. 9, 2022). In the same candidate questionnaire, Hogue stated: “I take issue with the concept of systematic racism in the United States” and do not “believe Critical Race Theory should be taught in schools.”). Florida law states that LGBTQIA+ is not to be promoted in school books and gender identity and sexual orientation cannot be discussed with children third grade and under.
Regarding “Critical Race Theory,” the state of Florida rejects it. The state has also developed its own black history curriculum, with a team of black scholars involved in it. Read about the dispute between the Democrat Party and Florida on it: https://www.citizensjournal.net/black-duval-political-consultant-others-debunk-kamalas-jax-speech-attacking-fl-black-history-teaching/
- Defendants’ decision to remove Tango was made behind closed doors, in violation of the Sunshine Law. (Per Lamken: “Steger, the Board attorney, claimed that there are times when the Sunshine Law applies to book reviews and times when it doesn’t. This time, Steger said, the district was under no obligation to hold an “open meeting”. I have no expertise that enables me to question Steger on this.”)
Also see:
- Defendants enacted a new administrative policy as a post-hoc justification for their actions.
- Defendants’ actions violated plaintiffs’ constitutional and statutory rights.
The lawsuit seeks four causes of action: one brought by the author plaintiffs and the other three brought by the student plaintiffs (actions were focused on content and viewpoint discrimination of the First Amendment brought by author plaintiffs and by student plaintiffs) claiming that Tango was removed from school libraries “for narrowly partisan, political reasons.”
The lawsuit seeks a permanent injunction requiring Defendants to fully restore students’ access to Tango in the District’s public school libraries along with access to the other 35 contested books.
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Rich Lamken told us on August 11: “Nowhere does it state that the reason the district settled the lawsuit is because, based on the recent revision of the state guidelines re: book removal, these books would never have been removed in the first place. They should have simply been subject to age restrictions. I have been unable to find those new guidelines.”
Citizens Defending Freedom Nassau County Executive Director Jack Knocke (several quotes below) responded to the district lawsuit and the Aug. 8 school board actions which caved-in to the lawsuit and allowing the controversial books to come back into school libraries: “Advocating for these obscene books that have already been addressed and identified by the school district is a violation of Florida statues…These books should not be placed back on the shelf of school libraries.”
“What is the motivation of these two book authors? Why are these books being returned to school libraries when they have been clearly identified as books in violation of Florida obscenity laws?”
“We want to make sure kids are protected from sexualization in school and these themes have no business in our schools and for our school board to cave and allow them back…”
“I don’t understand how a former Fernandina Beach High School Counselor,” (Robin Lentz, Executive Director of Take Stock in Children) “can ask for these books to go back onto the shelf,” said Knocke.
Nassau County School District officials did not comment on the Aug. 8 board decision to return removed books back into school libraries. Likewise, no school board member was successfully reached for a comment.
(Note: This reporter was told that no one was available for comment from Nassau County District Office because everyone was at Professional Development meetings prior to the opening of school on Monday, Aug. 12.)
Richard Lamken, a former California Assistant Superintendent of Schools, asked Nassau County School Board members for more transparency during public comments at the Aug. 8 meeting. According to Lamken, “The public needs to be given a summary of what is discussed by board members when they meet in executive session discussion”. “What concerns me, is that citizens needs are frequently ignored” (especially) with budget transparency.”
Lamken, speaking to Citizens Journal Florida in July said it was “time to vote out the incumbents” both the Nassau County School Board and the Superintendent of Schools.
(To read more go to: https://www.citizensjournal.net/local-citizen-questions-nassau-county-school-board-spending-budget-amendments-richard-lamken-time-to-vote-out-the-incumbents-unwilling-to-ask-questions/.)
Comments by Rich Lamken on Thursday, 8-8-24 board meetings/transparency:
Those running for re-election are: Gail Cook (Vice-Chair/District 2) and Cynthia Grooms (Chair/District 4) and Kathy Burns, Superintendent. Curtis Gaus (District 3) has resigned to run for Nassau County School Superintendent. Running against Cook is Roody Joinville (former principal of Yulee High School). Running against Grooms is Kristi Simpkins (30-year educator of Nassau County School District and former teacher at Callahan Elementary, principal at Hilliard Elementary and Nassau County’s Executive Director of Curriculum and Instruction). Running against Burns is Curtis Gaus, current Board Member (District 3) and long-time educator and educational administrator.
To see Citizens Journal Florida article on school board candidates featured at We The People candidate forum for school board at Walkers Landing on Amelia Island Plantation held Aug. 5 go to: https://www.citizensjournal.net/event/we-the-people-presents-candidates-for-nassau-county-school-board/.
To read about the We The People candidate forum held on June 17 (at Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Fernandina Beach) for the Nassau County School Board Superintendent race between Supt. Kathy Burns and Nassau County School Board member Curtis Gaus go to: https://www.citizensjournal.net/nassau-school-superintendent-forum-puts-candidates-on-record/,
Mail-in ballots have been out since Tuesday, Aug. 6. Election Day is Tuesday, August 20 for all Nassau County candidates running for office.
Michael Hernandez, from California is co-founder of the Citizens Journal—Ventura County’s online news service. He is a former Southern California daily newspaper journalist and religion and news editor. Mr. Hernandez can be contacted at [email protected] and is editor of the weekly “Stories Speak Volumes” and “Nov. 5 Election Day Countdown,” and writes a column on “Revive America.”
