In SC, local school officials won’t have final say on books bans. Who has the power?

The South Carolina State Board of Education now has the power to regulate the books on schools’ shelves, instead of local school districts.

A new regulation, which gained automatic approval on Tuesday, will now govern the selection of materials in schools and school libraries and dictate what is “age and developmentally appropriate” and “educationally suitable” under state law. It claims to respect parents’ prerogatives and to protect students, but critics call it “censorship” and are concerned about what it means for the future.

“Parents, educators, administrators, and communities are grappling with questions and concerns about the selection and use of age-appropriate, educationally suitable materials for K-12 students in public schools,” the policy proposal reads. “Increasingly ... disagreements have arisen regarding the appropriateness and suitability of various materials.”

The policy, proposed by state education Superintendent Ellen Weaver, argues that materials had not been governed by a “statewide uniform process.” The plan was sent to the General Assembly in February, but was generally untouched by both the House and the Senate and was never discussed or voted on. By law, legislators had 120 to provide input before it became official.

“Under the current patchwork of district policies and practices, stakeholders are afforded an uneven opportunity to have their concerns addressed in a uniform, transparent manner,” the policy reads.

It establishes a threshold to review new materials to test whether they are appropriate and educationally suitable, creates a process for local school boards to hold public hearings on complaints and establishes an appellate process to the State Board of Education.

“I’m certainly a proponent of local control, but I also know that half of our state education budget comes from the state, and with that investment comes responsibility,” Weaver said at an October meeting. “It is well within the purview and the responsibilities under state law of this board to advise on the age-appropriateness and alignment with the South Carolina instructional standards ... that is what we will be bringing before this board.”

Decisions by the state board will be conclusive and binding for all South Carolina school districts.

“South Carolinians are less free today,” Jace Woodrum, executive director of the ACLU of South Carolina, said in a statement. “By crafting and promoting a broad new book-banning policy, Superintendent Ellen Weaver has handed a blunt instrument to her ideological allies in the pro-censorship lobby. We still believe in academic freedom and will fight tooth and nail alongside teachers, librarians, students, and parents against the ongoing campaign of harassment and intimidation in public schools and libraries.”

The ACLU said the policy “opens the floodgates” for pro-censorship groups that oppose academic freedom, like Moms for Liberty and the state House of Representatives’ Freedom Caucus, to challenge and ban books in K-12 classrooms and libraries with any descriptions of “sexual conduct.”

Tamara Cox, acting president of the South Carolina Association of School Librarians, previously told The State that she was concerned about the policy because she didn’t know of any librarians involved in crafting it.

“We already have local policies in place. School library funding comes from local money. To me, it would only make sense to (use) local policies. What a school in rural Chesterfield wants to purchase might be different than a school in Columbia,” Cox said. “It gives the local elected school board and local parents more say.”

School library books have become a flashpoint for some conservative groups in recent years. School districts in counties across the state have seen books challenges. In September 2023, the Lexington 2 school district reviewed 30 books in its libraries after complaints and removed at least 17. In October 2022, 97 were pulled off of the Beaufort County School District’s shelves for review, a lengthy process that ended in December 2023 with five books being removed.

The state board already had the power to oversee the selection of textbooks and other course-related materials in public schools. But decisions about other books in classrooms and school libraries, up until now, were in the hands of local school boards.

The policy was first proposed only months after Weaver decided to cut ties with the South Carolina Association of School Libraries in August, ending a 50-year partnership.

In a letter to the organization, Weaver said that the library association had created a “hostile environment” using “politicized rhetoric” to oppose efforts to remove books from school libraries.

“Parents are entirely justified in seeking to ensure educational materials presented to their children are age-appropriate and aligned with the overall purpose of South Carolina’s instructional program and standards,” Weaver wrote. “When SCASL labels those efforts as bans, censorship, or a violation of educators’ intellectual freedom, the result is a more hostile environment which does not serve the needs of students.”

Weeks later, SCASL’s president, Michelle Spires, resigned, a direct response to Weaver’s letter.

“While the decision to step down as President of the SCASL has not been easy, it is a decision that I have made to put the well-being of my family and myself first,” Spires wrote in a statement provided to The State. “I am still committed to the work that SCASL does and will continue to support the organization and its members.”