if you'll click okay and Miss Dixon we should be good to go thank you so much thank you all for joining us today for the District library book objection committee un our purpose is to review an objection to the book title there's
someone inside your house by Stephanie for I am Pim vixon instructional resources imia Services director joh Mrs Sapp whom Mr forson designated as chair of this committee is unavailable today therefore I've been appointed to facilitate today's meeting
School based and District staff as well as parent and community volunteers are invited to participate on each committee today's meeting will result in a recommendation that will be forwarded to Mr foron St County School District superintendent this committee meeting is public record and therefore subject to
Sunshine Law this being live streamed for public VI committee members are not required to have their camera on during this meeting we are committed to civility in the Forum please assist us in maintaining a constructive meeting environment by remaining respectful of
each participant during the meeting and afterwards additional discussion of the objecting party or committee members outside of the meeting is discouraged disparaging comments are contrary to District expectations regarding character and civil committee members receive several
resources and advance of this meeting the resources included the objecting party's request for reconsideration a copy of the book in question Florida Statutes Florida Department of Education guidance for library media Services professional Source reviews St John's
County school board rules the library Bill of Rights and the school library media material evaluation checklist the process for today is as follows first the objecting party will have the opportunity to request the committee they will provide any
information they deem compelling or new regarding their request next the committee will have a discussion utilizing the school library media material evaluation checklist finally the decision by majority vote will determine a recommendation to superintendent for
possible recommendations can range from one retain the book with its current availability two retain the book with grade level restrictions three require parent permission or four remove the book from St John's count School District Libraries for our meeting today
both agreeable and opposing viewpoints are welcome are there any questions no questions so let us begin Jan Moore is the objecting party Miss Moore this is your time to address the committee you have up to five minutes to
share your objections good afternoon and thank you for the opportunity to share my thoughts on there's someone inside your house by Stephanie Perkins objectionable content includes excessive profanity sexual activities hazing alcohol use by minors
and explicit graphic bloody violence I've been grappling with the idea that our school district is okay with books that contain graphic adult content and excessive profanity I've done some research on the topic and it and came across this article from a page called writers on the move it's a Blog for experienced authors writers and
marketers that are in the industry it is about 20 years old and it's called much is too much in young adult books and is written by an anous anonymous member and I quote who doesn't swear or cuss on occasion right it's part of our culture everyone does it increasingly so and
harsher as we go along swearing has increased in movies television shows but especially in books when I was a teen reading Lord of the Rings or anything written by Ray Bradbery there wasn't a single cuss word anywhere teens then were cussing up a storm with gathered in groups and such but it wasn't in our
literature nearly to the extent it is today this begs the question is all that cussing really necessary Sarah coin professor of family life at bringham Young University analyzed the use of profanity in 40 young adult books on the bestseller list 35 of them had at least
one swear word one on the average there were 38 instances of cussing with one book containing nearly 500 uses of foul language the book in question today has over 100 exposes is that really necessary to become a bestseller with teens the argument is that the author is
reaching for auth authenticity and grit but there are plenty of books with grit and reality that don't make us feel like we need a shower to rinse off the stench after reading them look at the Hunger Game series How could a story get any grittier or more realistic how much cussing did you hear from Katniss orpa
during the final battle with Lord Voldemort did Harry Potter let loose a stream of expletives in my humble opinion cussing is a cheap way out of finding a creative way to express oneself and it cheapens the book as well and what does that say to pre-teens who are forming their ideas of who they are
and who they will become as adults everyone knows kids who read tend to do so about three to five years above their age level I've seen fourth graders reading the Twilight series none of my children would have ever read something like that at age nine but I saw it when I was teaching and the kids who were allowed to read materials years ahead of
their maturational level refus to read age appropriate excellent literature thereby missing out of a whole world of good books the problem with today's young adult books is that the reader doesn't know what they're getting into until they're deep in the M this goes for swearing sex and violence ever try
to stop a team from enjoying something that contains sex foul language or Gore of course an allowance is made for the genre Bridging the innocence of middle-grade books and adult level reading but how much is too much how do we protect the sanctity of Innocence until a young adult is ready to become
adult if what they are reading Reveals All as an author of picture books brought um up through adult young adult I feel the need to protect my young readers from what they're seeing in movies and television Hearing in the lyrics of their music music and experiencing while playing their video games teens aren't allowed to remain
innocent and naive anymore and I think it's a shame on our culture end of quote I couldn't agree more and this book touches all of the bases mentioned when did it become expected and accepted to call this kind of thing age appropriate and acceptables in schools have you ever
heard someone say the book is so much better than the movie that's because words paint pictures in our minds powerful vivid pictures and they that they stay with us imagery shapes how we think learn and remember and it's especially influential for the developing minds of young people why
does this matter the words in a book are more than just ink on a page they spark imagination and understanding and they can leave a lasting impression both good and bad this is especially true when it comes to sexual and violent imagery descriptions planted in a young mind can last a lifetime our school district
needs to do better for students and parents instead of just going with the flow of what the world is saying is appropriate how about formulate a specific rubric for our County that represents what is supposed to be one of the best districts in the state graphic sex violence and profanity does not present a stellar offerings for students
thank you so much for your time thank you Miss Moore we will now begin our discussion committee members please refer to the school library media material evaluation form you received for this discussion as a reminder the statute states that any mat us classroom
made available in a school or classroom library or included on a reading list may be objected to for four specific reasons one the material is pornographic or prohibited under Florida statute section 84701 2 reason number one is unique and
that if the majority of the committee determines that the material is pornographic or prohibited the recommendation should be to remove the material from St John's County School District Libraries for the remaining three reasons the committee will determine if there is an appropriate grade level for the material or the
material should be removed those reasons are two the material depicts or describes sexual conduct as defined in statute 847.011 19 unless such materials were of
course required by St State Statute 1346 1342 for2 Forin n1g do or 1 .42 Forin 2in in3 or identified by um
Schoolboard rulle three the material is not suited to the student needs and their ability to comprehend the material or four the material is inappropriate for the grade level and age group for which it students keep in mind that our final task today is to make a recommendation
to superintendent for S there are four possible recommendations one retain the book with its current availability two retain the book with grade level restrictions three require parent permission or finally for
remove the book from St John's County School District Library during this meeting I will open the floor for discussion and each Committee Member will have the opportunity to share comments will be summarized to provide an overall committee response for each question
please remember to raise your hand to provide a comment once acknowledge which you may unmute your microphone and share your thoughts with the group again for our meeting today both agreeable and opposing view points are welcome our our discussion begins with
the first items on the review form you received I would like to offer a brief explanation of the first three items for the group and our online view list question one requires the reason cited by the objecting pardon Miss verbal could you please share the response to
question number one yes the objecting party's challenge of the material cites that the material is inappropriate for the grade level and age group for which it is used thank you Miss Bal questions two
and three identify the level of Engagement by the committee with the material under Review Committee members please prepare to utilize your voting buttons to answer the following questions question number two did you review the specific pages in the mat
material cited by the objecting party please use the green check mark If you review the specific Pages cited by the objecting party if you did not review the material please submit the Red X waiting on one more vote thank you
Miss Dixon our vote for question two is sorry eight yes votes and zero no votes thank you Dr laon um if you'll give me just a second I am going to switch my mic I understand that someone may be having trouble hearing I'm going
to try and switch the mic to see if you have better sound let's see hello testing testing Alison if you could give us a thumbs up or a thumbs down if this is better no it sounds about the same to me
Miss Dixon I know Miss Walsh was the one who is having trouble hearing okay let's try this one is this mic better again they all sound about the same to us miss Walsh are you able to hear her better on that mic yeah we are we we can
hear a little bit better um okay yeah I think we can hear you all very loud and clear but I couldn't hear Kim as much but this this one does sound better thank you so much okay thank you everyone you may clear your vote at this time I will speak a little bit louder
just in case this helps than thank you okay question number just need Miss Dixon I'm sorry we just need everyone to clear their vote still waiting on one vote to be cleared I'm sorry I'm not sure how to remove the just click back on click on
the same um spot that you clicked there you go thank you thank you all right you receive professional or crowdsource reviews as a part of the resources provided for this meeting for question number three did
you consider these or any other professional Andor crowdsource reviews when evaluating this material please use the green check mark If you considered review resources when evaluating the materials in this objection if you did not consider the review resources please
submit the RB X Miss Dixon that's eight yes votes for question number three you may now clear your vote need one more vote cleared thank you thank you for questions 4 through S I will read each question and
open the floor for comments prior to calling for the vote if you have a comment please raise your hand question four is the material pornographic or prohibited under Florida statute 847.011 are there any comments regarding
this question seeing no hands I will call for the vote do you believe this material is pornographic or prohibitive under Florida statute 847.011 please use your voting buttons green for yes or red for
no can you repeat the question sorry just want to make sure I want to make sure I heard it phrased pornographic or prohibitive under Florida statute 847.011 it is question number four on your evaluation
form Miss Dixon for question number four we have eight no votes you may now clear your vote just need one more vote to get cleared thank you question five does the material
depict or describe sexual conduct defined in Florida statute 8471 Aon 9 note this does not apply to material required by Florida statute 1346
1342 par 9 par n 1.g do or 1342 par2 par3 or identifi by state board of education does the material depict or describ sexual conduct defined in FLA
statute 8 47.1 fa9 are there any comments regarding this question saying no hands I will call for the vote do you believe the material dep picts or describ sexual conduct defined in FLA statute
8471 please use your voting Buton bring for yes or R for no Miss Dixon for question number five we have two yes votes and six no votes you may now clear your vote
thank you so for the next two questions you will answer based on the grade level that the book is currently available for in our schools miss the C me which grades have access to this book currently one middle school has it in their eighth grade and up section and
it is available at six high schools in our collections for libraries thank you m our next two questions are written in the negative so I will explain response expectations question number six says is
the material unsuited to the needs of students in grades 8 through 12 where this book is currently available in our schools and their ability to comprehend the materials presented specifically if you feel students in grades 8 through 12
should not have access to this material please use the green check mark if you feel students in grades 8 through 12 should have access to the material please submit the Red X are there any comments regarding this
question saying no hands I'll call for the vote looks like we've started to vote already Miss Dixon for question six we have eight no votes you may now remove your vote you may now remove your
vote thank you again question number seven is also written in the negative is the material inappropriate for great for the grade level and age group for which the material is used specifically if you feel this
material is not appropriate for students in grades 8 through 12 please use the green check mark if you feel the material is appropriate for students in grades 8 through 12 please submit the red
X is the material inappropriate for the grade level engagement for which the material is used are there any comments regarding this question saying no hands I will call for the vote do you believe this material is inappropriate for the grade level and
age gr from which it is reach Miss Dixon for question number seven we have eight no votes you may now remove your vote you may now remove your vote thank
you thank you Dr Lawson committee our final discussion expectation is to make a recommendation to superintendent for again there are four possible recommendations one retain the book with its current availability two retain the
book with grade level restrictions three require parent permission or final remove the book from St John's County School District Library I will now open the floor for anyone to offer a recommendation to Mr foren we will then vote on that
recommendation please raise your hand if you'd like to offer a recommendation for this book there's someone in your house by Jennifer f we have uh Amanda go ahead hi yes I'd like to recommend that we retain the book as it is
currently the first recommendation as mysticon stated thank you m Amanda so the um recommendation on the floor is is to retain the book with its current availability is there any discussion or any comments or questions
regarding this recommendation okay saying no hands I will now open the floor for a vote if you agree that this book should be retained with its current availability please use the green check mark for the affirmative or the Red X for them
just waiting on one more vote Miss Dixon for the recommendation of keep the book with the current availability a grades eight and up we have seven yes votes and one no
vote you may now remove your vote sorry thank you Dr law we determin that the recommendation to Mr for should be to retain the book with Cent availability there are two final action steps to conclude our work today the first is your acknowledgement as a
participant on the committee which is needed on the recommendation form to Mr coren the recommendation will include notes from today's discussion and it will all of these notes will be emailed to you you may acknowledge participation by respond responding with an email or
you may review and sign the document at our Media Services office located at 315 will Speedway baren a the office is in the northern parking area for Sebastian Middle School the second thing to conclude our meeting today is for you to return your
book and any notes from your work to prepare for the meeting to the location where you picked up your book or here in our office at 315 leis be Mr forson will communicate take his decision to the objecting party and the website will be updated in approximately
15 days you may check the website to see the final resolution again I'd like to say thank you so much for participating in this process um we really value your input and your participation before we leave are there any
questions any final comments beinging done this concludes the meeting thanks so much and have break me