Robert Lawton, CC BY-SA 2.5 , via Wikimedia Commons
Local conservative activists are calling on the Lubbock Independent School District to remove explicit materials from the school libraries because they do not comply with state law.
On Monday, Turning Point USA’s Lubbock chapter called on the district to remove titles that do not meet the requirements set by Senate Bill 13 and the Reader Act, which “prohibit materials that are harmful to minors, sexually explicit, pervasively vulgar, indecent, profane, and educationally unsuitable.”
According to a statement from TPUSA Lubbock, there are more than 1,030 books that do not meet the standards set by state law.
Examples included “The Female of the Species” by Mindy McGinnis, which contains profanity, sexual activities, assault, nudity, violence, underage alcohol use, and drug use. This book is available to students ages 14-17 at Coronado High School.
“Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl” by Jesse Andrews contains “explicit sexual activities” and “content that encourages oral sex” and is also available to students who are ages 14-17.
“Crank” by Ellen Hopkins, which is available to students as young as 11 years old, includes passages depicting sexual assault involving a minor, “graphic sexual descriptions, forced sexual activity, violence, nudity, and explicit language pertaining to rape.”
“Every parent, regardless of political affiliation, should be able to agree on one principle: schools exist to educate our children, not expose them to harmful content like these,” said Stephen Lara with TPUSA Lubbock. “But perhaps what’s even more concerning is what has happened after these issues were brought to the school board’s attention.”
Lara said that they have worked alongside Citizens for Education Reform to request reviews of more than 130 books found in the Lubbock ISD system, but have felt no effect from these efforts because of a “burdensome and difficult” review system.
This has led community members to believe that this process has “discouraged participation instead of encouraging transparency and accountability.”
“But let us make something clear, parents should not have to fight through unnecessary obstacles simply to ask their school district to review sexually explicit, vulgar, and indecent material made available to their children. Period,” Lara said. “And according to Senate Bill 13, it is the School Board’s responsibility to keep these harmful books out of our schools, not to wait until a parent or concerned citizen discovers them and files a challenge request.”
Local activists pointed out that multiple other local school districts have created “better systems” to keep explicit books off of school library shelves and questioned why Lubbock ISD has not adopted a similar one.
Local news outlet Everything Lubbock reported Lubbock ISD’s response to TPUSA. The district’s statement focused on how the law applies to materials purchased, not on how it affects books already located on school library shelves.
They said that the Texas Education Agency has provided a “high-level overview” of SB 13 which added new requirements regarding “a school district’s library materials and catalogs.”
“This means that there are specific rules the school districts must follow when books are purchased or donated and Lubbock ISD is following them,” explained the district.
The district argued it already provides opportunities for parents to check what is offered in its library.
“Parents can also be involved in what children can read in the library,” according to the district. “This means a parent can see exactly what books are in the school library and what is available for their children to check out.”
Parents are also allowed to put book titles on a “restricted list” if they do not want their children reading certain titles and are notified when their child checks out a book from the school library.
Lara said this is not good enough. “We believe Texas families deserve stronger protections, greater transparency, and meaningful consequences when those protections are violated or ignored,” he added. “We call on the Lubbock ISD School Board to take these concerns seriously, to fulfill their elected duty, and to simply remove these harmful, indecent books.”
During a June Lubbock ISD school board meeting, activists testified about issues surrounding the book review process and State Sen. Charles Perry (R–Lubbock) criticized both the content available to students and the district’s response.
TPUSA Lubbock and another activist group said they will attend and testify at a special Lubbock ISD school board meeting Wednesday night. The meeting will be held at the Central Administration Building at 5 p.m.
Addie Hovland is a journalist for Texas Scorecard. She hails from South Dakota and is passionate about spreading truth.