See You In Court - September 2025

Bob Bombast, veteran member of the Nutmeg Board of Education, prides himself on his constituent service, and some members of the public know that they will get a sympathetic hearing when they complain to Bob about the Nutmeg Public Schools.  Over the summer, Bob received two separate complaints from parents of students at Median Middle School about books in the media center, and Bob decided to investigate.

On the first day of school, Bob drove over to the Middle School, and he pressed the bell to be let in to the building.  Once admitted, Bob went straight to the library.

Bob checked the list of books that he received from the concerned resident, who described them as “inappropriate,” and he went about his work.  After about two hours, Bob found three different books on the list, including Captain Underpants, Gender Queer, and George, which describes the challenges of a transgender girl.  Books in hand, Bob went to the circulation desk and asked the library media specialist to check these books out to him.  Confused about Bob’s actions, but well aware that Bob was a member of the Nutmeg Board of Education, the library media specialist did Bob’s bidding, and he left with the books.

After looking through these books and taking notes, Bob brought them to the next meeting of the Nutmeg Board of Education.  At the end of the meeting, Ms. Chairperson asked the Board if members had any further business for the Board’s consideration, and Bob took the opportunity to make his proposal.

“I value the opinions of Nutmeg residents, and I call upon the Board to address a serious problem.  Two concerned parents reached out to me to express concern about books in the library at our beloved Median Middle School, and I took it upon myself to investigate.  I was appalled to find a number of books in the library that were shocking in their content.  One book is entitled ‘George,’ for example, but it is about a transgender girl.  Other books that I found include discussion of sexuality that are wholly inappropriate for middle school children.”

Fellow Board member Mal Content interrupted Bob.  “Bob, I am sick and tired of your ignorant grandstanding!  We pay library media specialists good money to decide on what books to include in our school libraries, and you don’t have the knowledge or temperament to make these decisions.  What do you want the Board to do?” 

“Well, Captain Obvious, how about a quick vote to remove these inappropriate books from the library?  That would be a good start,” Bob responded.

“That’s not our job,” Mal shot back.  “You need to stay in your lane, Bob.”  That exchange resulted in a lengthy discussion among Board members about Bob’s concerns and the proper role of the Board.  Some members agreed with Bob and were ready to take action, and others expressed concern that Board members shouldn’t be involved in such matters.  To bring the discussion to a close, Ms. Chairperson announced that she is referring Bob’s concerns to the Policy Committee, which will come back to the Board with recommendations on whether to address this issue by policy, and, if so, what that policy should be.

Will it be appropriate for the Nutmeg Board of Education to develop a policy to deal with objections to books in the school libraries?

*          *          *

Creating such a policy is not only appropriate; such action is now legally required.

Section 321 of Public Act 25-168 requires that boards of education in Connecticut develop three different, but related policies:

Each local and regional board of education, after consulting with the superintendent of schools, the director of curriculum and a librarian employed by such board, shall adopt a (1) collection development and maintenance policy, (2) library display and program policy, and (3) library material review and reconsideration policy.

This new statutory obligation was effective when it was signed by the Governor on June 30 this year, and boards of education should address this new obligation promptly.

Of the three new policies that are required, the policy directly related to Bob’s concerns is, of course, the “library material review and reconsideration policy.”  Public Act 25-168 sets forth specific requirements for each of the three new required policies, and the requirements for the “library material review and reconsideration policy” include the following:

• A provision permitting “persons with a vested interest,” defined in the statute as a staff member, parent or guardian of a child enrolled in the school or a student enrolled in the school, to challenge material maintained in the school library.
• A provision that no material will be removed from the school library “because of the origin, background or viewpoints expressed in such material, display or program, or because of the origin, background or viewpoints of the creator of such material, display or program.”
• A procedure for creating a review committee when material in the library is challenged, the membership of which is prescribed in detail in the statute.  This committee must consider and make a decision on any such challenge as specified in the law.
• A requirement that library books (and other educational material) be removed only for legitimate pedagogical purposes.
• A requirement that the review process “shall neither favor nor disfavor any group based on protected characteristics.”
• The obligation to retain the challenged material in the library until the review committee makes a final decision.
• The right of any person challenging material in a school library to appeal the decision of the review to the local of regional board of education, which must then determine “whether the reconsideration process was followed and publish the decision on the Internet web site of the school district.”

Removal of books from school libraries has been the subject of litigation, starting with a decision of the United States Supreme Court in 1983 in Board of Education, Island Trees Union Free School District No. 26 v. Pico, 457 U.S. 853 (1982).  There, the Court ruled that the removal of books from a school library violated the First Amendment rights of students.    Reflecting the complexity of such issues, however, Pico was a plurality decision on the result, but given different views among the justices, there is no majority opinion.  The Court announced a more workable standard in 1988, when it ruled that school-sponsored speech can be regulated when school officials have a legitimate pedagogical concern.  Hazelwood School District et al. v. Kuhlmeier et al., 484 U.S. 260 (1988).  More recently, the courts have addressed claims that the removal of books dealing with issues of sexual orientation or transgender students has been discriminatory.  The new legislation reflects an awareness of the constitutional and other legal issues involved in removing books from a school library.

As boards of education address this new obligation, CABE’s Policy Service may be helpful.  Subscribers to this service will be receiving recommendations on the specific content of this new required policy (as well as the required collection development and maintenance policy and library display and program policy).

Finally, Bob’s actions in Nutmeg raise two separate concerns.  First, Bob’s simply showing up at the Middle Schools was not appropriate.  As a matter of proper protocol, board members visiting schools in their capacity as board members are expected to coordinate such visits with the superintendent.  Second, under the Freedom of Information Act, discussion of such issues must occur in public session, as was the case in Nutmeg.  However, the discussion and related action should have been included on the agenda for that Board meeting.