right Miss zap we are Live on YouTube thank you thank you for joining us today for the District library book objection committee meeting the purpose of today's meeting is to review an objection to the book titled fire force book one by asuki oh habo I'm Don sap associate superintendent for curriculum and instruction Mr forson has has designated me as chair of the committee and I'll be facilitating today's meeting school-based and District staff as well as parent and community volunteers are invited to participate on each committee today's meeting will result in a recommendation that will be forwarded to Mr forson St John's County School District superintendent this committee meeting is public record and therefore subject to Sunshine Law is being live streamed for public viewing committee members are not required to have their camera on during the meeting we're committed to committed to Civility and decorum please assist us in maintaining a constructive meeting environment by remaining respectful of each participant during the meeting and afterwards additional discussion of the objecting party or committee members outside of the meeting is discouraged disparaging comments or contrary are contrary to District expectations regarding character and civility committee members received several resources in advance of the meeting the resources included the objecting parties request for reconsideration a copy of the book Florida Statutes Florida Department of Education guidance for library media Services professional Source reviews St John's County school board rules the library Bill of Rights and a copy of the school library media material evaluation checklist the process for today is as follows follows first the objecting party will have the opportunity to address the committee they will provide any information they deem compelling or new regarding their request next the committee will have a discussion utilizing the school library media material evaluation checklist finally the decision by majority vote will determine a recommendation for superintendent forsen there are two options retain the book for a designated level or remove the book from St John's County School District Libraries for our meeting today both agreeable and opposing viewpoints are welcome are there any questions okay let's begin Gan Moore is the objecting party for fire force book one Miss Moore this is your time to address the committee you have up to five minutes to share your objection good afternoon and thank you for the opportunity for me to share my thoughts my objections to this book are that it contains explicit IIT sexual activities non-sexual nudity and sexual assault the Florida Statutes clearly State OB seene content in school libraries is now illegal Florida describes the following as sexual conduct in 84701 two actual or simulated sexual intercourse deviate sexual intercourse sexual bestiality masturbation or sistic abuse actual or simulated lewd exhibition of the genitals actual physical contact with a person's clothed or unclothed genitals pubic area buttocks or if the person is female the breast with an intent to arouse or gratify the the sexual desire of either party or an act or conduct which constitutes sexual battery or simulates that sexual battery is being or will be committed there are several pictures in the book that depict nudity and sexual assault as shown in the original objection under the Florida Statutes this is illegal content and it must be removed also how about it's just vulgar parents have almost no ability to monitor or protect their child from what lies in the media center the fet system does not provide enough information for parents to compile a list to opt out and the opt out list does not stop a child from pulling a book from the Shelf without checking it out it's an ineffective way for parents to try to protect their children from graphic sex violence rape pedophilia profanity etc etc parents alone determine if they want their child to have access to adult materials not the child and certainly not the school district you will walk through the checklist but those questions alone do not determine if a book is inappropriate I sincerely hope this committee will also use common sense a moral compass and courage to stand up for childhood innocence and parental rights ultimately the job of this committee is to ensure that the school district is not violating the obscenity laws by Distributing content that is described in the Florida statute as required by law house build 1069 thank you for your time thank you Miss Moore Committee members we will refer to the school library meeting material evaluation form for our discussion as a reminder Florida statute states that any materials used in a classroom made available in a school or classroom library or included on a reading list may be objected to for four specific reasons reason number 1 the material is pornographic and prohibited under section 847.011 of Florida statute the material must be removed if or the it must be recommended the superintendent that the material must be removed if the majority of the committee agrees with the objecting party that the material is pornographic or prohibited for the remaining three reasons the committee will determine if there is an appropriate grade level or if the material should be removed those remaining reasons are the material depicts or describes sexual conduct as defined in 847.011 19 of Florida statute the material is not suited to student needs and their ability to comprehend the material or the material is inappropriate for the grade level and age group for which the material is used keep in mind that our final test ask on the form is to make a recommendation to superintendent forsen there are two options retain the book for a designated level or remove the book from St John's County School District Libraries again statute is clear that we must recommend to remove the title if the majority of the committee determines a violation of question four on the checklist the floor will be open to discussion and each Committee Member will have the opportunity to share comments will be summarized to provide an overall committee response for each question please remember to raise your hand to provide a comment for our meeting today both agreeable and opposing viewpoints are welcome let's begin we will now go through the checklist together I will read each question I'll ask if anyone has a comment and after we've finished with comments then we will vote we're going to move over to the library materials objection form question number one sorry got a lot of papers in front of me feel like I should have these memorized ah here we go okay sorry about that question number one the objecting party's challenge of the material cites that so for this one we take it directly from the objecting parties um what they submitted and Miss Moore indicated um that her grounds for objection are that the material depic or describ sexual conduct so we will indicate that on this form and she also had some supporting documentation so that will be included in our um what we give to Mr forson so we'll actually move on to question number two for question number two and three is it's an indication for Mr forsen just to see um kind of to confirm that the committee actually reviewed the materials so for question number two um it's it states specific pages in the materials cited by the objecting party were reviewed so if you did review the pages cited by the objecting party you'll vote Yes on this one if you did not review those specific Pages you will vote no please vote Miss sap we have seven yes votes you may now clear your vote thank you everyone moving on to question question number three similar to question two professional Andor crowdsource reviews were considered if you did look at the professional Andor crowd Source reviews that were um provided then please vote Yes if you did not look at those professional and crowdsource reviews please vote no Miss saap we have seven yes votes you may now clear your vote thank you starting with question number four I'm going to read the question I'm going to pause and see if any if there are any hands um so that everyone that wants to has a chance to make any comments and then I'll call for a vote so question number four is the material pornographic or prohibited under Florida statute 847.011 please raise your hand at this time if you'd like to make a comment okay don't see any hands so we'll call for a vote is the material pornographic or prohibited under Florida statute 84701 two Miss sap we have two yes votes and five no votes you may now clear your vote question number five does the material depict or describe sexual conduct defined in Florida statute 8471 P9 please raise your hand if you'd like to make a comment go ahead Mr Brown hi uh I just wanted to quickly uh point out the the sexual conduct definition in 8471 is a very narrow one uh and I don't believe that it has been met by any of the material that's been provided um the groping that the complainant uh is pointing out was not uh with the intent to arouse or gratify the sexual desire of either party one party was angry with it and the other was mortified by it uh similarly I don't believe that it actually portrays sexual battery which requires intent uh within the book uh whatever happened was the result of some sort of magic spell or curse and was clearly not the intent of either party uh and so for that reason will be voting no uh this does not uh constitute sexual conduct thank you there any other comments from the committee members okay question number five we're going to vote after this does the material depict or describe sexual conduct defined in Florida statute 8471 print 19 please vote missp we have two yes votes and five no votes you may clear your votes now thank you question number six is the material unsuited to student needs and their ability to comprehend the material presented are there any comments for question number six okay we'll move to a vote is the material unsuited to student needs and their ability to comprehend the material presented please vote is the material unsuited to student needs and their ability to comprehend the material this St we have seven no votes you may now clear your vote thank you and question number seven um Mrs akowski could you please tell us at what grade level is this material currently available to in St John's County hello yes this material is currently accessible to students in grade levels 9 through 12 which is our high school library collections thank you so just keeping in mind that currently this material is currently available to students in grades 9 through 12 and our high schools question number seven is the material inappropriate for the grade level and age group for which the material is used are there any comments don't see any hand and so we'll go ahead and vote is the material inappropriate for the grade level and age group for which the material is used please vote Miss app we have seven no votes you may now clear your vote Miss toyer can you clear your votes thank you thank you okay at this time we're going to vote on our recommendation to Mr forson uh the material is currently available in grades nine are up so we will start there um if you would like to vote that the material is appropriate pise nine and up you'll vote Yes if you want us to consider something different you vote no so please vote at this time the material is appropriate for grade nine and up right Miss sa we have seven yes votes you can now clear your boat we have completed the form um please raise your hand if anyone would like to include any additional comments to be included in our recommendation to Mr forson okay seeing no comments I just have a few closing activities that we need from all of you okay thank you to all of our committee members for your participation today there are two final action steps to conclude our work number one your acknowledgement as a participation participant on the committee is needed on the recommendation to Mr forsen the recommendation which includes notes from today's discussion will be emailed to you you may acknowledge participation by responding with an email or you may review and sign the document in person at our Media Services office at 10 hildr in St Augustine the second thing we need is for you to return your book and any notes that you have in your work to prepare for this meeting and if you'd please return those items to the location where you picked up your book um we ask that you please do both of those things by the end of this week so your deadline is Friday and are there any questions before we close the meeting okay thank you this concludes the meeting --------- all right Miss sap we are live streaming thank you thank you everyone for joining us today for the District library book objection committee meeting the purpose of today's meeting is to review an objection to the book titled half a Yellow Sun by chimamanda adishi I'm Don sap ass superintendent for curriculum and instruction Mr forson has designated me as chair of the committee and I'll be facilitating today's meeting school-based and District staff as well as parent and community volunteers are invited to participate on each committee today's meeting will result in a recommendation that will be forwarded to Mr forsen St John's County School District superintendent this committee meeting is public record and therefore subject to Sunshine Law it is being live streamed for public viewing committee members are not required to have their camera on during the meeting we are committed to Civility and decorum please assist us in maintaining a constructive meeting environment by remaining respectful of each participant during the meeting and afterwards additional discussion of the objecting party or committee members outside of the meeting is discouraged disparaging comments are contrary to District expectations regarding character and civility committee members received several resources in advance of this meeting the resources included the objecting parties request for reconsideration a copy of the book Florida Statutes Florida Department of Education guidance for library media Services professional Source reviews St John's County school board rules the library Bill of Rights and a copy of the school library media material evaluation checklist our process for to day is as follows first the objecting party will have the opportunity to address the committee they will provide any information they deem compelling or new regarding their request next the committee will have a discussion utilizing the school library meia material evaluation checklist finally the decision by majority vote will determine a recommendation for superintendent foron there are two options retain the book for a designated level or remove the book from all St John's County School District Libraries for our meeting today both agreeable and opposing viewpoints are welcome are there any questions about our process if not let us begin Jean Moore is the objecting party for half a yellow sun Miss Moore this is your time to address the committee you have up to five minutes to share your objection good afternoon and thanks for the opportunity for me to share my thoughts my objections to this book are that it contains sexual activities including sexual assault sexual nudity profanity derogatory terms violence and inflammatory racial commentary If This Were A Movie it would be rated at least an R which is not for minors in R rated movie is not appropriate for school so why would the same content in a book be okay for school Florida law clearly states obscene content is in school libraries is now illegal floridt describes the following sexual conduct in 847 012 as actual or simulated sexual intercourse deviate sexual intercourse sexual beastiality masturbation s satam masochistic abuse actual or simulated L LW exhibition of the genitals actual physical T contact with a person's clothed or unclothed genitals pubic area buttocks or a female breast with the intent to arouse or gratify the sexual desire of e either party or any act or conduct which can constitute sexual battery or stimulates that sexual battery is being or will be committed this committee has no other option than to recommend the removal of the book from our district based on the law this title was removed from Clay County Schools last year parents have almost no ability to monitor or protect their child from what lies in the media center the fullet system does not provide enough information for parents to compile lists to opt out or the opt out list does not stop a child from pulling a book from the Shelf without checking it out it's an ineffective way for parents to try to protect their child from graphic sex violence rape pedophilia profanity etc etc parents alone determine if they want their child to have access to adult materials not the child and certainly not the school district you will walk through a checklist but those questions alone do not determine if a book is inappropriate I sincerely hope this committee will also use common sense a moral compass and courage to stand up to CH for childhood innocence and for parental rights ultimately the job of this committee is to ensure that the school district is not violating the obscenity laws by just Distributing content that is described in the Florida Statutes as required by houseville 1069 thank you for your time Miss zpp you're muted sorry about that thank you Miss Moore Committee members we will refer to the school library media material evaluation for for our discussion as a reminder Florida statute states that any materials used in a classroom made available in a school or classroom library or included on a re reading list may be objected to for four specific reasons reason number one the material is pornographic or prohibited under Section um 847.011 of Florida statute the recommendation from the kit committee must be to remove the material if the majority of the committee agrees that the material is pornographic or prohibited for the remaining three reasons the committee will determine if there is an appropriate grade level or if the material should be removed the remaining three reasons include the material depicts or describes sexual conduct as defined in 8471 perin1 19 or the material is not seated to student suited to student needs and their ability to comprehend the material or the material is inappropriate for the grade level and age group for which the material is used keep in mind that our final task on the form is to make a recommendation to superintendent forson and there are two options retain the book for a designated level or remove the book from St John's County School District Libraries again statute is clear that we must recommend removal of the title if the majority of the committee determines a violation of question four on the checklist the floor will be open to discussion and each Committee Member will have the opportunity to share comments will be summarized to provide an overall committee response for each question please remember to raise your hand to provide a comment for our meeting today agreeable and opposing viewpoints are welcome and we look forward to um making a decision so let's begin we will go through the checklist together I will read each question asked if anyone has a comment and once we get through any um comments then we will vote okay so we will start with question number one on the checklist which states the objecting party's challenge of the material cites that and for this question we just go ahead and we place the exact information that Miss Moore placed on her um objection form so in this case um it was indicated that the objection is um for three different reasons the material is pornographic or prohibited the material dep pix or describes sexual conduct and the material is inappropriate for the grade level and age group for which it is used and then there was also an attachment so just so that the committee knows that will all be provided to Mr forson so we'll take care of number one number two and three this is just an indication that so we can demonstrate to Mr foron did the members of the committee have the opportunity to review all the resources so for question number two um specific pages in the material cited by the objecting party were reviewed if you did review the specific pages that um were cited in the objection please vote Yes if you did not vote no thank you you may clear your vote thank you question number three professional Andor crowd Source reviews were considered if you did look at the professional Andor crowd Source reviews please vote Yes if you did not please vote no Miss Z we have eight yes votes you may clear your vote thank you okay for question number four I'm going to read the the uh question and then I'm going to ask if there are any comments um then I will call for a vote so for question number four is the material pornographic or prohibited under Florida statute 847.011 if anyone would like to make a comment please indicate by raising your hand I don't see any hands so we'll call for the vote is the material pornographic or prohibited under Florida statute 847.011 please vote Miss Sapp there are eight no votes you may clear your vote question number five I will read the question we'll see if there's any hands raised for comments and then we will vote question number five does the material depict or describe sexual conduct defined in Florida statute 8471 Forin 19 are there any comments seeing No Hands we'll go ahead and vote does the material depict or describe sexual conduct defined in Florida statute 8471 pin9 except there are eight no votes you may now clear your vote question number six is the material unsuited to student needs and their ability to comprehend the material presented are there any comments seeing no hands will vote is the material unsuited to student needs and their ability to comprehend the material presented miss that there are eight no votes you may not clear your vote before addressing question seven Miss Sakowski can you tell us where is this material currently available yes hello the material is currently housed in our high school library collections that would be grades 9 through 12 thank you so for question number seven is the material inappropriate for the grade level and age group for which the material is used in this case it is currently used in grades or not it's currently accessible in grades 9 through 12 so for question number seven are there any comments and we'll go ahead and call for a vote is the material inappropriate for the grade level and age group for which the material is used Miss Z we have eight no votes you may now clear your vote thank you so it's now time for us to make a recommendation to um the superintendent uh we'll start with a vote on where the material is currently avail a I'm sorry we just have one person who needs to clear their vote I see that okay thank you so we will start with where the material is currently available so we'll we're going to start with a vote on um our recommendation being the material is appropriate for grade nine and up if you would like this to be our recommendation you'll vote Yes if you don't want this to be our recommendation you'd like to do something different you'll vote no Miss we have eight yes votes okay thank you so our recommendation to Mr forson will be that the material is appropriate for grades nine and up um I just have some closing comments for the committee um okay thank you thank you to all of our committee members for your participation today there are two final action steps to conclude our work number one your acknowledgement as a participation on the committee is needed on the recommendation to Mr forsen the recommendation which includes notes from D from today's discussion will be emailed to you you may acknowledge participation by responding with an email or you may review and sign a document in person at our Media Services office at tin heldreth in St Augustine the second action we need for you to take care of is to return your book and any notes from your work um that you if you had any notes in preparation for the meeting we need you to return those to the location where you picked up your book we would like to ask that everyone takes care of both of these two steps um by the end of this week um we appreciate that are there any questions before we close the meeting all right this concludes the meeting thank you for