Other parents were also cut off.
QUICK FACTS:
- A Florida pastor was cut off during an Indian River County School Board meeting after reading an explicit passage from a book available to children.
- Pastor John K. Amanchukwu Sr. began to read a passage from Jay Asher’s 13 Reasons Why, but was told to stop after one sentence.
- “As if letting him finger me was going to cure all my problems,” the pastor said before being interrupted by a board member.
- “I’ll stop you. Sir, I’ll stop you there,” the member stated.
- As he attempted to continue reading the pornographic passage, security approached Amanchukwu and removed him from the meeting.
- “Three warnings, I’ve asked you please—” the board member said in between Pastor Amanchukwu’s protests.
- More than 30 parents and school board meeting attendees had books successfully removed after being cut off, Fox News reported.
- Under Florida law, if a school board objects to a parent reading a “pornographic” or “harmful” book, that book is to be eliminated from the school district.
FLORIDA’S HB 1069:
- Indian River County School Board member Jacqueline Rosario was the only school board member to vote to remove explicit books from children’s libraries.
- “The difference now is HB 1069 has allowed parents to read explicit books at board meetings. And if they get shut down, then the book is immediately removed. This is a good thing,” Rosario told Fox News.
- Under HB 1069, any material that is “subject to an objection” is to be “removed within 5 school days of receipt of the objection and remain unavailable to students of that school until the objection is resolved.”
- “Parents shall have the right to read passages from any material that is subject to an objection,” the bill continues. “If the school board denies a parent the right to read passages due to content” that is explicit or pornographic, “the school district shall discontinue the use of the material.”
- “The superintendent and board members refused to acknowledge the gross content made available to kids until now,” Rosario added. “Finally, they don’t have a choice. It’s about time the truth be made known. Explicit, sexually graphic, pornographic, and obscene material does not belong in any school.”
BACKGROUND:
- A new bill introduced in California would criminalize “substantial disorder” caused by parents protesting at school board meetings.
- Parents have raised concerns that the bill would violate their First Amendment Rights.
- The bill, introduced by State Senator Anthony Portantino (D-Glendale) expands on an existing law to claim that “substantial disorder” includes that within “any meeting of the governing board of a school district, the governing body of a charter school, a county board of education, or the State Board of Education.”
- “I find it curious that there’s no definition of ‘substantial’ or ‘disruption’ within the proposed text,” said Sarah Parshall Perry from The Heritage Foundation’s Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies. “Considering that these are essential terms for the bill, it’s likely that if passed, the law would fall under a vagueness challenge.”
