Escambia School Board Approves Additional Book Removals After Lengthy Public Opposition

PENSACOLA, FL (NewsRadio 92.3) -- Escambia County School Board members unanimously approved another round of book removals Tuesday night, one day after a federal appeals court ruled board members can be required to testify about earlier decisions to remove books from district libraries.

The board voted 4-0 to approve Superintendent Keith Leonard's recommendation to remove titles covered by the district's June 2025 directive concerning books appearing on the Florida Department of Education's book-removal list.

The action removes affected titles from district media centers, classroom libraries and recommended-reading lists.

The vote followed lengthy public comment from residents, parents and school media specialists both supporting and opposing the district's book policies.

Opponents cited titles including "Harriet the Spy," "Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry," "Roots" and "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret?" while arguing books should be evaluated individually.

One district media specialist told the board that parents already have the ability to limit what their children can check out or prevent their children from accessing school libraries altogether.

Parent Kristen Moschel also argued individual families should decide which books their children read.

Board members did not discuss the removal recommendation among themselves before voting unanimously to approve it.

The meeting came one day after the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower-court decision requiring School Board members to sit for depositions in an ongoing federal lawsuit over previous book removals.

Board members had argued legislative privilege protected them from being compelled to testify about their decisions.

The appeals court concluded that the specific book-removal votes at issue involved applying existing School Board policies and were administrative rather than legislative acts.

The ruling does not decide the underlying lawsuit over whether the district's book removals violated the First Amendment.