The Confusing Principles of Professional Conduct

Florida's Principles of Professional Conduct put school principals in an absolute no-win situation.  Their careers could be on the line.

The patchwork of laws passed in Florida to address problems that never existed before continues to become more complicated.  It is difficult to qualify the new series of rules and legislation going into effect as ‘one step forward and one step back’ as it is more ‘one step to the side another step diagonally.’  We try to help keep you apprised of what is, admittedly, a very confusing landscape.  

This week, we want to focus on the Principles of Professional Conduct Rule we discussed in a previous article (regarding the onus placed on school administrators in making book-banning decisions) and its impacts in places where principals decide most of the objections. 

As you’ll recall, these new rules will put school principals in a literal no-win situation.  

Most district policies for book objections make the principal the first point of contact for book objectors. They must meet to discuss the objector’s concerns, and the principal will have to do one of the following: recommend the objector (if a parent of a child in the school) set a restriction on their child’s library access, explain why the book does not meet the criteria for objection and will be retained, or recommend the objector proceed with the next step in the objection process. 

In a handful of districts like Manatee County, the principal can then decide whether or not to resolve the objection on their own or move forward with a public committee review process. Under the new revision in the rule, if a principal makes the decision to restrict or remove access and a parent believes this decision is an overapplication of the law, a complaint can be filed with the state, and the principal could lose certification. 

This would mean individual school principals could be left in a situation where one parent, under state laws, can demand that a book they think is inappropriate be removed, and another parent, under this new rule, can challenge the principal’s decision and fight to have the book restored based on its educational value. 

What is a principal supposed to do in this situation?  

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Let’s continue with Manatee County as a case study of this rule’s challenges.  We have seen that the decision of one school principal will influence the others down the line.  And this makes sense.  Principals are trying to thread a very narrow needle, and they are presumably looking to one another for guidance. 

So, while it is possible for one principal to override another, it’s unlikely. Once a book is removed from shelves at one school, other schools are likely to follow suit. They’ll couch it as ‘erring on the side of caution,’ but the truth is that many of the books being banned absolutely don’t need to be. 

Take Drama, for example.  This is a book written, published, and intended for ages 8 – 12, and yet in Manatee County, it can only be checked out from two HIGH schools.  Why is that? 

Drama has been challenged before for having “inappropriate” material in it because it includes two boys kissing at one point in the story.  The kiss occurs in the context of a school play, one boy filling in at the last minute for the female role.  However, because it has been interpreted by some radicals as promoting LGBTQ ideals, the book has been challenged.  

There’s just one problem with this. 

As part of the Equality Florida settlement, a court ruling specifically clarified that books cannot be removed from shelves just for having LGBTQ representation.  That the laws in existence do not allow for this.  Which means there is no standing for parents to demand this book be removed from the schools and grade levels for which it is intended. 

But, ‘erring on the side of caution’ got the book pulled from most schools in Manatee. 

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So what about parents who think the book should be on the shelves of their students’ schools?  Doesn’t the new rule for education principles going into effect give them recourse to challenge a banned book and have it brought back? 

Yes—but at the state level.  

You see, this is the main challenge point around this rule.  Currently, there isn’t a district in the state of Florida that allows a parent to appeal a decision to remove a book to the local Board. Now that this rule is approved, there is only one mechanism to be heard on this matter - filing a complaint against the principal who made the decision to restrict access to the book - a complaint that could cost an otherwise great administrator their career.  

This can mean that school principals afraid of running afoul of laws like HB 1069 can end up having their certifications endangered by another parent who believes they have had a book unfairly removed.

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This rule applies to both the school and classroom libraries. If a teacher refrains from voluntarily self-funding a classroom library, are principals responsible for allowing a classroom library to go empty?  

The plain language of the rule seems to suggest yes, but the state failed to clarify this point before passing it.  Considering the fact that classroom libraries have become a flashpoint for some parents, this seems a particularly egregious oversight on the state’s part.

If principals are responsible for these classroom libraries, then this is essentially an unfunded mandate to have classroom libraries while putting the financial burden on teachers, who will not be compensated for their additional time or responsibility to purchase, catalog, and maintain the books in their collection.  Teachers are already financially burdened as it is, and there is no reason to thrust this additional cost and obligation on them.

Especially considering this is a failure on the part of the state to clarify its own law.

A law that does not necessarily have a clear enforcement method, either.  When the state needs to investigate the actions of a principal, who is holding them accountable for carrying out the investigation?  

If restrictions are put in place by a local principal, who from the state is going to determine whether or not the law is being followed correctly?

Currently, complaints filed over violation of the Principles of Professional Conduct are investigated by the Professional Practices Services Department of the FLDOE - a group that does not carry the certification or education necessary to make curation decisions for school libraries. How can local parents concerned over suppression of first amendment rights be reassured that a complaint to the state will be fairly considered, when it should be student needs and local community standards dictating what's on the shelf at a particular school?

The approval of this rule, like the FLDOE's many other attempts to dance around the real issues, causes more harm than good. The state knows that parents defending access to information in public schools are the same parents that are trying to defend their educators. We recognize the space between the rock and the hard place where principals now stand, and we want to hold the state accountable for these decisions - not the principals. 

Manatee County finds itself in this awkward position because, under its policy, most book objections are resolved by a principal without much public knowledge or participation.  The district badly needs a local review process to prevent principals from being caught in these no-win situations, and it needs an appeal process that is open to all parents regardless of whether the initial decision is to keep, restrict, or remove the book.  If there were a way for a parent to request a book be returned without going directly to the state government, this whole process would seem a lot less acrimonious.  

The most important thing is that parents have recourse on a local level.  In their own districts.  Without going all the way to the state to challenge the decisions of a principal who is probably just afraid of, or doesn’t fully understand, the onerous laws that have been passed.  There needs to be a public review process for banned books in ALL of Florida’s districts.  Not in the patchwork state it currently exists in.  

Parents need the ability to appeal without risking the credentials of their local principal. 

This is going to take a continued team effort.  Ultimately, what we are advocating for is parents having more of a voice, not less.

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