Parents sue Tennessee school board for keeping explicit books in school libraries despite new law

Parents are suing a Tennessee school board, claiming it violated the Age-Appropriate Materials Act of 2022.

The lawsuit, filed by state Rep. Gino Bulso, R-Brentwood, on the parents’ behalf, alleges the Williamson County Schools (WCS) Board failed “to adopt procedures to develop school library collections or to review those collections periodically.”

It also claims WCS failed “to determine whether certain materials in the school libraries were not appropriate for students who may have access to them,” according to the Williamson Herald.

In June, the school board voted 8-2 to keep five books in school libraries despite complaints from parents and officials.

The five books were:  

• Speak, a young adult novel about a high school girl who is raped;  
• Perks of Being a Wallflower, a coming-of-age novel that portrays sexual abuse, suicide, psychedelic drugs, and child molestation; 
• The Field Guide to the North American Teenager, a novel about a high school student with a plethora of foul language and graphic sexual conversations; 
• Where the Crawdads Sing, a murder mystery depicting physical abuse and attempted rape; 
• Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, a novel of a young boy dealing with the death of his father during 9/11. It deals with mature themes such as self-harm and contains sexual content. 

Bulso, the plaintiffs’ legal counsel, claimed the board’s decision was “unlawful” as well as “arbitrary and capricious” and asked the courts to reverse the decision.  

The Age-Appropriate Materials Act was proposed by Gov. Bill Lee, who said it was important because parents needed more say in their children’s education.  

“We are proposing a new law that will ensure parents know what materials are available to students in their libraries,” Lee said. “This law will also create greater accountability at the local level, so parents are empowered to make sure content is age appropriate.”  

The law went into effect during the 2022-23 school year. 

Now all public schools are required “to maintain, and post on the school’s website, a list of materials in the school’s library collection.” It also “requires each local board of education and public charter school governing body to adopt a policy to establish procedures for the development and review of the school library collections.”  

Bulso has given the school district 30 days to respond to the litigation before further action is taken.