The Escambia County School Board votes unanimously to remove 18 books without review
By Jennie McKeon
June 18, 2025 at 6:45 AM CDT
The Escambia County School Board voted 5-0 Tuesday night to remove 18 books without committee review.
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The books in question contain “graphic descriptions and depictions of sexual conduct.” They will be removed from all school district media centers, classroom libraries, and recommended reading lists.
The board also approved further actions recommended by school board member Kevin Adams, which were discussed at Monday’s workshop. These actions include removing all of the books the Florida Department of Education has deemed pornographic or age-inappropriate without further review, as well as delaying media center purchases. The Florida DOE list has approximately 600 books on it.
Superintendent Keith Leonard said the other actions may take two to three months to finalize. School board member Tom Harrell urged that the recommendations be expedited.
There were hours of public comment from concerned citizens, parents, grandparents, and educators about the challenged books.
Shannon Nicholson served on four book review committees and argued there was nothing to question about the process, "just because the committee doesn’t reach the challenger’s result.” She also pointed out the district’s form where parents of middle school children can allow or restrict access to young adult novels, which have largely been the center of challenges.
“They are absolutely representative of the community as a whole,” she said. “There is nothing dysfunctional about our work. The opt-out process of library materials is very clear to parents … no one is making anyone read these books.”
Victoria Knight, also on one of the book review committees, said the meetings follow the State of Florida statutes. The work is important to her, she said, since school libraries are “the only resource for a lot of kids in Escambia County.”
“It’s very important we provide this to our children,” she added. “We are out there ensuring they have access to books in the library. Parents have the right to restrict access to their children, but not restrict access for all children.”
However, not all committee members were pleased with the process. Mickey Price said he was part of two review committees that have “failed the parents and students.”
“Almost all cases they side with media specialist,” he explained before reading excerpts from the book “Girl in Pieces” by Kathleen Glasgow, which is only available for 11th and 12th grades. Price said it was an “evil book” and a “training manual for mental illness, rape, self-harm (and) suicidal thoughts.”
Those in favor of removing the books applauded the board for taking swift action.
“Let’s get back to the business of educating children without indoctrinating them,” said Rich Holzknecht, who ran for Escambia County School Board last year. “I know we (the district) can do better on reading, but we need to have good books, and we need to make sure we’re complying with the law. You’re on the right track. Take it into the endzone.”
Escambia County teacher Vicki Baggett, who initially kicked off the local book controversy when she challenged more than 100 books in 2022, said removing the books without committee review is a “smart way to save time and money.”
The school district has about 235 unresolved book challenges. Around 25 have been resolved. Of those 25, two have been retained, nine removed, and 14 restricted to specific grades.
The school board is also in the middle of two lawsuits regarding book restrictions. In December 2024, U.S. District Judge T. Kent Wetherell II recommended that the school board settle its lawsuit with PEN America, which has cost hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars in legal fees. Another lawsuit was filed against the school board by the authors of “And Tango Makes Three” for the removal of their book about same-sex penguins raising a chick.
Statewide, other districts are grappling with their own book reviews. In Hillsborough County, more than 600 books were removed without reviews, including “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood and “Beloved” by Toni Morrison, after receiving a letter where Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier called for the “immediate removal” of the books he called “patently pornographic.”
Support Local Stories. Support Public Media.
The books in question contain “graphic descriptions and depictions of sexual conduct.” They will be removed from all school district media centers, classroom libraries, and recommended reading lists.
The board also approved further actions recommended by school board member Kevin Adams, which were discussed at Monday’s workshop. These actions include removing all of the books the Florida Department of Education has deemed pornographic or age-inappropriate without further review, as well as delaying media center purchases. The Florida DOE list has approximately 600 books on it.
Superintendent Keith Leonard said the other actions may take two to three months to finalize. School board member Tom Harrell urged that the recommendations be expedited.
There were hours of public comment from concerned citizens, parents, grandparents, and educators about the challenged books.
Shannon Nicholson served on four book review committees and argued there was nothing to question about the process, "just because the committee doesn’t reach the challenger’s result.” She also pointed out the district’s form where parents of middle school children can allow or restrict access to young adult novels, which have largely been the center of challenges.
“They are absolutely representative of the community as a whole,” she said. “There is nothing dysfunctional about our work. The opt-out process of library materials is very clear to parents … no one is making anyone read these books.”
Victoria Knight, also on one of the book review committees, said the meetings follow the State of Florida statutes. The work is important to her, she said, since school libraries are “the only resource for a lot of kids in Escambia County.”
“It’s very important we provide this to our children,” she added. “We are out there ensuring they have access to books in the library. Parents have the right to restrict access to their children, but not restrict access for all children.”
However, not all committee members were pleased with the process. Mickey Price said he was part of two review committees that have “failed the parents and students.”
“Almost all cases they side with media specialist,” he explained before reading excerpts from the book “Girl in Pieces” by Kathleen Glasgow, which is only available for 11th and 12th grades. Price said it was an “evil book” and a “training manual for mental illness, rape, self-harm (and) suicidal thoughts.”
Those in favor of removing the books applauded the board for taking swift action.
“Let’s get back to the business of educating children without indoctrinating them,” said Rich Holzknecht, who ran for Escambia County School Board last year. “I know we (the district) can do better on reading, but we need to have good books, and we need to make sure we’re complying with the law. You’re on the right track. Take it into the endzone.”
Escambia County teacher Vicki Baggett, who initially kicked off the local book controversy when she challenged more than 100 books in 2022, said removing the books without committee review is a “smart way to save time and money.”
The school district has about 235 unresolved book challenges. Around 25 have been resolved. Of those 25, two have been retained, nine removed, and 14 restricted to specific grades.
The school board is also in the middle of two lawsuits regarding book restrictions. In December 2024, U.S. District Judge T. Kent Wetherell II recommended that the school board settle its lawsuit with PEN America, which has cost hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars in legal fees. Another lawsuit was filed against the school board by the authors of “And Tango Makes Three” for the removal of their book about same-sex penguins raising a chick.
Statewide, other districts are grappling with their own book reviews. In Hillsborough County, more than 600 books were removed without reviews, including “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood and “Beloved” by Toni Morrison, after receiving a letter where Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier called for the “immediate removal” of the books he called “patently pornographic.”