Palm Beach County school board leaders decided Wednesday to deny three challenges to books by Bill O’Reilly, Ayn Rand and Dean Koontz on the library shelves at Park Vista High School.
The person who challenged the books called them lessons in “hypocrisy” as they were written by two authors with ties to candidates who have supported Florida’s book restrictions but whose own works include graphic sexual content.
The books in question were “The O’Reilly Factor for Kids: A Survival Guide for America’s Families” by O’Reilly, “The Fountainhead” by Rand and “The Taking” by Koontz.
Kenneth Derrick, who is not a parent of a child at Park Vista, was not pushing for the books to be removed from the library.
Challenge to books sought advisory label
Instead, he suggested the school district affix an advisory label to the books that calls out authors who support book challenges but include sexual content in their own novels.
The board voted unanimously to deny his request to add the labels to the books.
“This request by the challenger is kind of outside the Florida statute. It’s outside of our policies and procedures as a school district,” Superintendent Mike Burke said. “I would just caution the board that we have over 2 million books in Palm Beach County schools. I’d be concerned about if we start going down the path of advisory labels, that could be a subjective process. … I’m concerned about his proposal.”
Derrick did not attend the school board’s hearing.
Florida law allows parents of students in the school system and county residents to challenge books they believe are pornographic or not age-appropriate for the students who can access them.
Derrick’s challenges to the three books were denied by Park Vista’s school materials review committee, its principal and Burke. The denials cited the committee’s finding that the books are age-appropriate and that the school district does not typically add warning labels to books.
The three books are the second, third and fourth formal challenges in the past year to be appealed all the way to a school board hearing. Last July, a parent unsuccessfully challenged the Bible’s availability to students at Olympic Heights High.
More:Palm Beach County school leaders vote to keep Bible in libraries after parent challenge
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Of “The O’Reilly Factor: A Survival Guide for America’s Families,” Derrick pointed to descriptions of sexual conduct in the book’s chapter titled “Sex” as the reason for his challenge.
“For example, on pg. 72: ‘And according to many experts and studies, quite a few of you like to pretend that you’re in the Clinton White House. I mean, you casually practice oral sex, even in your early teens,'” Derrick wrote in his challenge, along with other examples from the book’s chapter.
He suggested a label be placed on the book that highlights the book’s author supported Florida’s laws “restricting the content of books in school classrooms and libraries, but he became angry when his books were removed for inappropriate content.”
O’Reilly, a conservative television commentator and former Fox News host, reportedly became “furious” in January after two of his books were removed by Escambia County’s school district. He previously supported the book challenge laws in Florida, which he said were necessary to “protect children” from a far-left agenda.
Derrick also challenged “The Fountainhead” for a description of what appears to be a sexual assault. The book was written by Alice O’Connor, using the pen name Ayn Rand, and published in 1943. Derrick says in his challenge that “many individuals who support Florida laws restricting the content of books in school classrooms and libraries often recommend that young people read this book.”
Public schools in Orange County removed the book from libraries last year, according to The Orlando Sentinel.
Finally, Derrick challenged “The Taking” for descriptions of violent sexual conduct, including pornography and sexual assault committed by gangs. The novel was written by self-labeled conservative and Catholic horror novelist Dean Koontz and published in 2004.
Derrick argues that Koontz has “donated money to politicians who support laws restricting the content of books in school classrooms and libraries.” Campaign finance records show that Koontz has donated to several Republican candidates for Congress in California over the past four years. None of those candidates appears to be connected to Florida.
Katherine Kokal is a journalist covering education at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at kkokal@pbpost.com. Help support our work; subscribe today!
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