KELLER (1080 KRLD)- Parents in Keller ISD lined up at a school board meeting Monday night, calling on the district to remove books they described as "pornographic" from school libraries.
Last month, Keller ISD removed a book on gender identity from a high school library after a string of social media posts from parents.
"Keep pornography and [critical race theory] and politics out of Keller schools," one parent said.
"I never gave any of you permission to teach my children topics including race, gender, LGBT, sex, politics or any other similar topics," another told the board.
Some parents brought signs and cheered as others spoke. On several occasions, board members said they would delay the meeting if people kept yelling.
"No one is advocating for these books to be burned or banned," one father said. "We are simply asking, 'Are they appropriate for minors to have access to?'"
John Allison, Keller ISD associate superintendent of education, says school librarians have been told to audit their collections. He says Keller has a system to allow people to challenge books.
"Challenges began almost immediately once books were identified and as we became aware of other books, even if there was not an external challenger, our policy allows an internal challenger," he says.
Allison says high schools in Keller each have between 10 and 19 thousand items in their libraries. He says librarians are now "auditing" their collections, and the district has added a layer of review before book purchases.
Allison says Keller ISD buys books in "bundles," where a publisher will make 20-30 books available in a group.
"We also see purchases made based on many of the award lists: Caldecott, Newbery, Clark," he says. "Librarians evaluate that material, and they look for two peer reviewed journal articles around that book or bundle. Then they look at what the recommendation is for the age-appropriateness of the students."
Allison says most school districts have followed that system. He says, as additional concerns have been brought forward, Keller will address "gaps" in purchasing, saying books will receive a recommendation for age level in journal articles, but they do not include a rating similar to movies.
He says Keller ISD is also working on options at library check-outs. He says the current system is not designed to identify individual books that are checked out, but Allison says Keller ISD is working with the vendor to design program that will give parents additional control over what students can check out.
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