Escambia County school leaders signaled support last week for eliminating citizen-led book review committees and replacing them with a faster, administrator-run process that sends final decisions directly to the School Board. The move, discussed at a Sept. 11 workshop, comes as Florida districts face new requirements for how they vet and remove school library titles and as Escambia sits at the center of a closely watched federal lawsuit over book restrictions.
Under the approach outlined in the meeting, a small district team under the superintendent would review objections, apply written criteria, and forward recommendations to the elected board for a public vote. The change would retire ad hoc citizen panels that have handled challenges in recent years.
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Board attorney Ellen Odom told members she could rework draft policy language to reflect the new structure.
“If what the board is directing me to do right now is to revise the current draft in order to eliminate reference to the committee, then I can do that,” she said. She added that any change would return to the board for formal consideration in accordance with district rulemaking procedures.
Members backing the shift framed it as a way to comply with state timelines and reduce administrative drag, while preserving ultimate accountability with the board.
“Ultimately, this board needs to make that final decision once it goes through the appeal process,” District 5 Board Member Tom Harrell said.
Superintendent Keith Leonard pressed for clarity on expectations and workload as responsibilities move from citizen panels to staff.
“Is it your expectation that I read each book that’s been challenged?” he asked. Several members responded that a superintendent-led review should rely on trained staff—such as the district’s media services office—rather than the superintendent personally reading every contested title.
District staff described a front-end transparency system that will remain in place for new purchases regardless of how challenges are handled. Bradley Vinson, the district's media services coordinator, said schools post proposed book lists online and invite public feedback before buying.
“Now what we are having our media specialists do is prepare their lists," Vinson said. "… Then they post those lists to their website … and it is posted for at least 10 days.”
Some members asked for additional paperwork to accompany purchases, such as a signed attestation from a trained media specialist that titles comply with state law and district standards.
“All we want to do is that accountability piece,” District 1 Board Member Kevin Adams said.
Supporters of replacing the committees argued that the existing structure is cumbersome, costly, and slow—especially under Florida’s tightened rules around school materials. A public commenter, Rich Holsonback, backed the change in plain terms: “To continue doing it the way we’re doing it right now is akin to letting a bunch of horses out of the corral, out of the barn, running all over the valleys and hills and then trying to pull them back in," he said. "It’s time-consuming. It’s laborious. It has not been working.” No other speakers addressed the policy during the workshop’s public forum.
At the same time, board members stressed that parental and community involvement must not vanish.
“I am one that firmly believes in parental involvement,” Harrell said. District 4 Board Member Carissa Bergosh said she had not reached a final decision.
"I'm still on the fence about review committees," she said. "I'm still researching them and studying them and talking with my constituents about it."
Florida’s recent laws have expanded who can object to school materials, required districts to publish searchable catalogs and purchase lists online, and accelerated timelines for addressing certain objections. Those requirements have pushed many school systems to formalize criteria, tighten documentation, and centralize decision-making. The U.S. Supreme Court’s 1982 Island Trees School District v. Pico decision, though fractured, remains a guidepost: public schools cannot remove library books simply to suppress particular ideas. That legal backdrop has put a premium on written standards, age-appropriateness rationales, and clear records of how decisions are made.
Escambia has been at the forefront of the national debate. In 2023, PEN America, Penguin Random House, authors, parents, and students sued the district and its board, arguing that book removals violated the First Amendment. A federal judge allowed core claims to proceed, keeping the case—and Escambia’s policies—under close scrutiny. District leaders have said in public meetings that their aim is to follow state law and protect students while maintaining a process that is workable and transparent.
The discussion on Sept. 11 suggested a broad outline: district experts would conduct the initial review of challenged titles; the superintendent would bring recommendations to the board; and the board would vote in public, creating a clearer record. Members also signaled interest in standard rubrics and signed staff attestations on new purchases. Odom said revised policy language would return for board consideration at a future meeting.
The stakes are practical and legal. Centralizing reviews could speed decisions and help Escambia meet state timelines, but it also concentrates responsibility. That means the district’s written criteria and paper trail—who reviewed a title, what standards were applied, and why a book was kept, restricted, or removed—will matter more than ever.
What happens next will come down to the text. The revised policy will need to spell out who sits on the district review team, how criteria are applied, how parents can raise objections, and how decisions can be appealed. Even as Escambia moves away from citizen committees, the board has said it wants the public to see—and understand—how decisions are made.
