Utah State Board decides not to repeal book bans in public schools

This week, the Utah State Board of Education had the opportunity to overturn the state’s ban on any of the 13 books removed from public schools. However, board members failed to take the steps necessary to make that happen.

On August 2, Utah released its first list of 13 titles to be removed from all public schools under a new law. The law requires a book to be removed from all public schools in the state if at least three school districts (or at least two districts and five charter schools) classify it as “sensitive target material” — pornographic or indecent content, as defined by Utah code.

To overturn the ban, at least three state board members had to request that the materials be added to this week’s meeting agenda for a vote. None did so, and the 30-day deadline to do so has already passed. The board is scheduled to hold its monthly meeting on Thursday and Friday.

State board member Sarah Reale said there are a couple of reasons she and other board members aren’t pursuing the option of repealing state bans this time around.

“At this point, I’m tired,” Reale said. “There are so many important things that our students, our teachers and our schools need right now, and focusing our energy and time on repealing the statewide banned books list doesn’t seem like a useful or good use of our time.”

The list included works by such acclaimed authors as Judy Blume and Margaret Atwood, as well as popular romance and fantasy author Sarah J. Maas. Her books alone made up nearly half of the list, including the entire “A Court of Thorns and Roses” series.

“While there are (titles) that I think are important to have in our school libraries, there are some that I think many feel comfortable eliminating,” Reale said.

Reale added that there is concern that if the board were to overturn any state ban, it could prompt retaliation from the Utah Legislature.

“The only good thing about the most recent sensitive material law is the fact that it gives the State Board of Education the option to override a statewide ban… That’s an important check on the Legislature,” Reale said. “I think the Legislature is on the verge of insanity when it comes to how they like to punish anyone who doesn’t agree with their (culture war) bills.”

The new law, which took effect July 1, applied retroactively to titles previously banned by some districts. Over the summer, districts and charter schools were ordered to reevaluate books they had banned before then, using the state’s new criteria for “objective and sensitive material,” which was not in effect before.

Rep. Ken Ivory, R-West Jordan, spearheaded the legislation. He, along with other conservatives such as Rep. Burgess Owens, praised it as a “shining day” for the state. Ivory did not immediately respond to The Salt Lake Tribune’s request for comment Wednesday.

If more titles are added to the statewide prohibited titles list, the State Board will still have the option to revoke them.

“If there were books that I heard from a lot of constituents … that were really unhappy about being removed from their library, and it showed how important those books are to student representation … I would absolutely try to overturn the state ban,” Reale said.

However, Reale said few people had expressed concerns to him about the first batch of banned titles.

“I would recommend that people, if they have any issues with any books on this list in the future, contact a school board member in their state,” she said.