Thursday, March 28, 2024

GISD book review panel completes work; three more books removed

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A Granbury ISD committee of parents, community members and staff has completed reviewing 131 books for age appropriateness.

Most of the committee agreed that 116 of those books did not include material that matched Gov. Greg Abbott’s definition of “written or visual material that depicts explicit sexual acts or overtly sexual content.”

Three books are designated for removal because of sexually explicit material or illustrations, according to GISD Director of Communications Jeff Meador.

They are “Out of Darkness,” by Ashley Hope Perez, “This Book is Gay,” by Juno Dawson, and “We are the Ants,” by Shawn Hutchison.

The titles are in addition to five novels by Abbi Glines that had previously been removed by district officials from school libraries.

The Glines books were shown to the committee as examples of sexually explicit content, and the group supported the removal of those books at the beginning of the review process in February.

The district will hold a public inspection of books designated for removal on Tuesday, March 22, and Wednesday, March 23, from 3-5 p.m. each day at the administration building, located at 217 N. Jones St.

The nine-member committee was chaired by GISD curriculum director Stacie Brown, who was not a voting member.

A summary of the completed review incudes six books confirmed lost and not in school libraries; three books incorrectly listed and not in school libraries; and three books that were duplicate titles on the original list.