HB1285 and the New School Year

The 24/25 school year is getting underway, and with it comes a number of changes in the landscape of Florida’s schools and school libraries.  

One of the most significant changes is the implementation of HB 1285, a bill passed by Governor DeSantis with the support of his Republican majority, which is performatively aimed at stemming the tide of book bannings around the state.  But will it actually help?  Does HB 1285 really address the underlying issue it purports to? 

Let’s take a look at the reason this bill came into existence, and what it actually does, along with the potential shortfalls and loopholes in the law’s language.

We discussed here how the Administration’s supposed outrage over book bans was the predictable outcome of a landscape they created.  By passing laws hostile to free speech and allowing for an expanded censorship effort in school libraries, they created a broad objection process that was going to inevitably fail to be restrained to a specific type of book or be discriminately limited to the topics they wished to target.. 

Amidst the objections to biblical texts and the challenges of other popular, right-wing publications (like Bill O’Reilly’s book), DeSantis made the absurd claim that the intention of some of his pro-censorship laws had been co-opted.  In response, HB 1285 was pushed to slow down the number of challenges and bans happening in Florida counties.   

HB 1285, in principle, is a law that limits the number of objections Florida citizens are allowed to bring.  By its wording, state residents may challenge one book per month in their district of residence.  Theoretically, this would stop the massive lists of bans and potential bans from continuing to accrue.   

Like every law, however, this comes down to a matter of enforcement. 

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Unfortunately, this is where the potential of HB 1285 is severely undercut by its own vague wording.  We’ve written before about how the vague language used in many of these laws is done intentionally so they can be wielded advantageously by whatever party is in power.  HB 1285 is no exception. 

Let’s start with how it defines an ‘objection.’  Or, rather, how it does not.

The Florida Department of Education rule prompted by education censorship laws like HB 1285 states: “Objection” means those objections to materials submitted by a parent or resident of the school district and resolved under a school district’s policy adopted to implement Section 1006.28(2)(a)2., F.S.” 

The key here is ‘under a school district’s policy.’  This is problematic because not all districts in Florida have a codified challenge policy that documents an objection as the first step in the process.   

The fact that HB 1285 leaves this part of its process undefined is part of what is at issue.  What actually constitutes an objection across the state is not only patchwork but deeply open to interpretation.  This creates a potential loophole that would allow supporters of library censorship to continue to advance their agenda and bypass the intentions of HB 1285.

For example: something else we have written about here is the use of school board meetings to read from a book people want removed from a school system’s libraries.  This should be considered an objection that will prompt a review.  But is this a formal objection? 

How are these tracked?  Where is the paper trail or public transparency to show how the process is playing out?  Do other citizens of that county have the ability to voice their thoughts about keeping the book? 

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What about a citizen lodging a complaint with a school’s principal over a book?  In districts like Brevard and Volusia, this type of objection is considered an “informal” complaint that can be resolved without any public notice or use of the state-prescribed objection form.  A public review process with certified media specialists and a panel of parents is only triggered when an objector is asked to fill out the state-prescribed form. So, what’s to stop a citizen from hopping around the district, scheduling meetings with principals to log as many informal complaints as they would like?  

HB 1285 almost goes out of its way to NOT define the formal objection process and leave it up to the individual districts.  But that just means that the law is going to be predictably messily enforced.  Which also means its real-world applicability will be diluted.  In order for this law to have teeth, it needs to define what an objection is, how the objection is to be registered, and how they are tracked to make sure only one objection per citizen per month is being lodged. 

But, HB 1285 doesn’t do this.  It leaves it up to the individual counties.   

Now, HB 1285 does create a template for what an objection should look like.  And in its language, it requires the use of the template in order to lodge a complaint about a book.  But, again, where it falls short is in defining the circumstances under which this template is required to be filled out. 

We believe that if you are planning to stand up in front of a school board and read from a book you object to, you have begun your one objection for the month and should be required to fill out the formal template.  We believe that if you are going to speak to your school’s principal about materials, that is the start of an objection, and the template must be filled out.   

Any action that a parent or citizen takes that would necessarily call attention to a book being potentially removed from shelves, should be followed with enforcement of this template.  Anything less fails to live up to the intent of this law. 

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Here’s the thing.  Even if the state vociferously enforces the use of this template and this law, there are still going to be opportunities for the bill to be bypassed.  It won’t stop the person using Power of Attorney from filing multiple objections per month in a district where she does not reside. It may not deter ironically named “liberty” groups from organizing in such a way where every individual member of their group submits a different challenge each month to keep the tide of bans rising. It may not halt the practice of special interest groups submitting long lists of books for removal via email to their viewpoint-aligned School Board Member.  

Properly implemented and enforced, however, it will slow them down. 

See, HB 1285 is an important first step in reversing the censorship that has occurred in Florida.  It could be effective, but that will require the state to go further in defining how and when the objection process begins, and tracking those objections closely.  There’s potential, but the job is unfinished. 

Whether or not Governor DeSantis wants the bill to be effective is another question, but we’ll leave that for now.

There is an opportunity for those of us who want to see libraries remain a place of actual freedom of expression to help this bill along.  Make it clear to your school boards and district leaders that you want the formal objection process to begin at the point of an actual objection, not after specific members of leadership have an opportunity to quietly remove the book first.  Voice your concern over the potential loopholes this bill leaves wide open, and encourage your local governments to close them. 

Citizen input on these matters continues to play a part in their effectiveness.  Your voice can make a difference.   

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