FAIRVIEW, Texas - In a unanimous decision, the Lovejoy Independent School District (LJISD) School Board recently denied concerned parent, Laura Giles’ request to remove harmful, obscene or vulgar books in their school libraries. These same books were previously identified by the administration as harmful, obscene or pervasively vulgar. They also denied her request for changes to their policy which currently allows vulgar books to remain in their school libraries. This decision follows months of appeals by Mrs. Giles with support from Citizens Defending Freedom (CDF).
As instructed by the district, Mrs. Giles initiated their grievance process in October to challenge 40 books and to ask the district to change their policy. Despite following LJISD’s process, she was painted as a troublemaker in a public hearing, disparaged in public communications to district parents and charged excessive fees for public information. Additionally, the district withheld public information from her that is required under the law.
“Me and Earl and The Dying Girl” by Jesse Andrews was found in Lovejoy ISD libraries and is an example of their failed policy. Here is an excerpt:
“Yeah, Earl, I’m going to eat her p*ssy.” … “Do you even know how to eat p*ssy?” … “Papa Gaines never sat you down, said, Son, one day you’re going to have to eat the p*ssy.” “No. But he did teach me how to eat a b*tthole.” The book has many other passages along these lines. For further context click here.
In an email to Giles, the administration admitted this book contained harmful, obscene or pervasively vulgar content but, per their current policy, it was then forwarded to a reconsideration committee who decided to keep it despite the vulgarity. Behind the scenes, the district secretly removed this book via their “regular maintenance” of library materials, without informing Giles. This means the book could simply be re-ordered. This book is not currently in the library but not due to their failed reconsideration policy.
After 9 months, Giles efforts finally escalated to the School Board in a Level 3 grievance hearing on June 19 regarding just 4 of the challenged books. Giles requested the board to vote on whether to remove the books and change their policy. They refused to vote on either, voting instead on procedural grounds which ultimately left these 4 books in the library and the existing policy unchanged.
CDF encourages Lovejoy ISD to enact the following policy changes:
1. The Reconsideration Committee criteria should include looking for obscene or vulgar content that is prohibited by law and current state library standards. The current rubric doesn’t instruct the committee to even consider this when evaluating a book.
2. LJISD needs to remove the language “in its entirety” from the book review policy. Paragraphs of obscene or vulgar content cannot be balanced out by a few benign pages. State standards do not require the book be read in its entirety.
3. LJISD needs a more streamlined system for removing vulgar books. The process for Giles has taken 9 months and is still not complete. Other districts like Frisco and McKinney are able to remove obscene/vulgar books without reading a book “in its entirety.”
4. LJISD needs to change their selection criteria, so it no longer purchases vulgar books in the first place.
About Citizens Defending Freedom:
Founded in 2021, Citizens Defending Freedom is a non-profit organization that strategically operates in counties across America to help citizens defend their faith and freedom, all while fighting for transparency in local government. Currently, Citizens Defending Freedom is established in Florida, Georgia, Michigan, and Texas, with plans to continue expanding across America. Click here to learn more about Citizens Defending Freedom.