Iowa teachers union calls on schools to restore banned books. Some districts already are

Iowa's teachers union has called on public school superintendents to return to the shelves books that have been banned and removed under a far-reaching education law that has been halted by a federal judge's injunction.

Iowa State Education Association President Mike Beranek sent an email to superintendents at all of Iowa's 325 public school districts Tuesday morning, making the request. The association sent a similar letter to more than 2,500 union leaders Monday.

While the federal injunction remains in place, "any books removed from your school district’s classroom or library shelves in an attempt to comply with Senate File 496 should be returned," Beranek wrote in the letter to school superintendents.

A few schools appear to be following suit, saying they are indeed putting removed books back on the shelves.

Related: After federal judge's injunction on Iowa's book ban law, confusion and concerns linger

Under Senate File 496, Iowa school districts are banned from instruction and curriculum pertaining to gender identity and sexual orientation through the sixth grade, and most books depicting sex acts are barred from schools. The law also requires school administrators to inform a child's caregiver if a child requests to use a different name or pronouns.

The law has been inconsistently applied around the state since it went into effect over the summer. Some school districts have removed dozens of books, while others have said they are waiting for guidance from the Iowa Department of Education.

But two lawsuits filed last year in federal court are challenging portions of the law pertaining to books and the prohibition on instructional topics.

The teachers union along with Penguin Random House, several authors whose books were banned and three Iowa educators are the plaintiffs in one of the lawsuits. ISEA's lawsuit names as defendants John Robbins, president of the Iowa Board of Education; McKenzie Snow, director of the Iowa Department of Education; Chad Janzen, chair of the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners; and the Urbandale and Norwalk school boards and superintendents.

Related: Which banned books have been removed from Iowa schools? Our updated database lists them

As a result of the lawsuit, U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Locher blocked parts of the law pertaining to books and instruction just days before Senate File 496's penalties went into effect. The state has filed an appeal.

Beranek cited the judge's ruling in his letter. "While the state has filed an appeal of this decision, it remains in effect, and any books removed from your school district’s classroom or library shelves in an attempt to comply with Senate File 496 should be returned," the letter states.

Gov. Kim Reynolds' office declined to comment.

Related: Largest US publisher, bestselling authors sue over Iowa law banning K-12 books with sex acts

The letter comes one day after the Bondurant-Farrar School Board approved permanently removing 17 books from its collection.

A Des Moines Register survey of Iowa public school districts shows more than 1,200 books have been removed since the law was passed.

Related: Bondurant school board votes to permanently remove 17 books from its schools. They are:

The education association cannot require the books be returned to shelves, Jean Hessburg, the union spokesperson, said in an interview. The goal of the letter is to ensure administrators have the correct information about the injunction.

"We are notifying superintendents on the status of the law so anything they removed as a result of Senate File 496 should go back on the shelves," Hessburg said.

The letter to administrators ends with Beranek thanking superintendents for supporting staff, students and their communities.

"We are incredibly proud of public school educators across the state of Iowa," he said. "We trust their expertise and know that sharing information with students through books selected based on their sound educational judgment and expertise is a large part of a student’s successful growth and learning."

Some districts already had begun returning books to shelves

In the metro area, several school districts had already begun returning books before receiving ISEA’s letter.

In a message to Dallas Center-Grimes Community School District families on Jan. 17, officials announced they would begin to reshelve books.

“Our legal team has advised DCG CSD to return the books that were originally removed … to the shelves,” Superintendent Scott Blum wrote. “We will be completing that process in the next few days.”

Urbandale schools have also returned books removed under Senate File 496 to its library collection.

Some school districts, including Waukee, are still waiting for guidance despite the injunction.

Waukee officials — on the advice of their legal counsel — do not plan to return any of the books until the federal lawsuits have been settled.

“A lack of clear guidance from the outset is part of what led to this current situation and persists as a challenge as we try to navigate the landscape of the federal injunction,” said Waukee Superintendent Brad Buck.

None of the school district officials who responded to the Des Moines Register’s interview request said books were returned after receiving the letter.

Editor's note: A previously published version of this story misidentified one of the schools waiting for state guidance to restore removed books. Urbandale has already restored removed books.

Samantha Hernandez covers education for the Register. Reach her at (515) 851-0982 or svhernandez@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/svhernandez@svhernandez or Facebook at facebook.com/svhernandezreporter.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa teachers union requests schools return banned books to shelves