American LibrariesSearch American Libraries  |
||
Site Navigation
Left Sidebar Items |
||
Florida Judge Halts School Library Review-Committee MeetingFlorida Circuit Judge Jack Springstead ruled October 21 to temporarily bar a Hernando County school district committee from meeting privately to consider whether Judy Blume’s novel Deenie, a book that chronicles the life of a 7th-grade girl dealing with curvature of the spine, should remain in the Spring Hill Elementary School library.The school district had appointed the committee after Jerri Trammel, the mother of a Spring Hill Elementary 4th-grader, complained about passages that talk frankly about masturbation. Springstead issued the temporary injunction after the St. Petersburg Times filed a lawsuit contending that the review should be conducted in an open meeting. The newspaper charged that the committee’s recommendation would affect public policy and is therefore subject to Florida’s open meetings and records laws. In an October 20 letter to the Times, school board attorney Karen Gaffney said that because the fact-finding committee does not include school board members and is not responsible for making a recommendation directly to the board, its deliberations are not subject to the state’s sunshine law. The committee is comprised of a curriculum specialist, an administrator, two teachers, a parent, a student, a community resident, and a public library system staff member. “Right now, the ball is in their court to get the order lifted,” according to Times lawyer Penelope Bryan. Posted October 27, 2003. |
Right Sidebar
|
|
