“Morally damning”: Comments from DCPS book reviewer latest issue surrounding new curriculum laws

Jake Stofan
·4 min read

“Morally damning” and “teaching a lifestyle that is contrary to the design of humanity” that’s how a DCPS book reviewer described a novel about an LGBTQ girl’s coming-of-age story.

The comments were made in the reviewer’s explanation for rejecting the title for use in local schools last year.

In her review of Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World, DCPS employee Michelle DiBias wrote, “This is harmful to children because it is teaching a lifestyle that is contrary to the design of humanity to be acceptable and not dangerous to the child and persuades through adult influence sexual relationships with multiple partners and extreme fantasy”.

>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<

[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]

Read: The Players Championship has begun, here’s what you need to know for parking and transportation

The book was included in the Essential Voices Collection, which was kept off the shelves during a lengthy review process that was initiated early last year in anticipation of new state laws limiting instruction on race and LGBTQ topics.

“The Essential Voices Collection, to my knowledge, was ordered by the district to help with literacy and have selections in the classrooms that reflected, you know, a diversity of identities,” said Jonathan Friedman with PEN America.

Friedman argued DiBias’ rationale for recommending the book be kept off the shelves in all grade levels shows personal bias played a role in some of those early book review determinations.

Read: JSO to hold forfeited items auction beginning Friday

“Biased, political, partisan, ideological, religiously inflected – All of that seems to have been playing a role in the review that was conducted here,” said Friedman.

While the district told Action News Jax it has since adopted new guidelines for book reviews and books selected for removal must be reviewed by multiple people, DiBias was chosen to lead the team tasked with reviewing all 1.6 million books in the district.

Last Monday, DiBias submitted a letter of resignation to the district announcing she’d be stepping down from her role as leader of the district-wide book review later this month, but she did not explain why.

Action News Jax attempted to reach DiBias via phone and at her home to ask why she chose to step down, but she wasn’t home at the time and has not responded.

Her resignation comes as the district has been repeatedly criticized by state leaders including the Governor and Education Commissioner, for the district’s implementation of new curriculum restrictions and transparency requirements.

Read: Tim Tebow’s father victim of extortion, arrests made in undercover sting

Images of empty library shelves, covered classroom libraries and books about Roberto Clemente and Hank Aaron being kept off shelves have put Duval in the national spotlight multiple times in recent months.

The district reports only about 10,000 books to date have been reviewed and made available to students.

Governor Ron DeSantis claimed the district put off compliance with the state law until the last minute in a press conference Wednesday.

“I know Duval County what they did was they kind of waited to even indulge and follow the law for a long time and so you ended up with a situation where kind of at the end of the period when this, they said oh we gotta take all these books and review and all this stuff and that wasn’t necessary,” said DeSantis.

The district claims to be following state guidance, which advised media specialists to ‘er on the side of caution’ in their book review process.

Duval has stood out as an outlier in its extreme read of that line, but Friedman doesn’t put the blame solely on the district.

“Do I think it’s reasonable to suspend 1.6 million books from schools? Absolutely not,” said Friedman. “But do I think that the laws that have been passed are in-part responsible for creating a situation where people just don’t understand what’s going to get them in trouble and they see other people getting in trouble and it makes them nervous? I think that’s a huge part of this.”

[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]

Not-Approved List (Updated March 2023)

  • Almost Perfect - Brian Katche

  • Beloved - Toni Morrison

  • Bluest Eye - Toni Morrison

  • Dead Until Dark - Charlaine Harris

  • Doing It - Hannah Wilson

  • Dreaming in Cuban - Cristina Garcia

  • Forever - Judy Blume

  • grl2grl - Anne Peters

  • Gross Gods - Blake Hoena

  • Julani and the Lock - Lorenzo Price

  • Killing Mr. Griffin - Lois Duncan

  • Outlander - Diana Gabaldon

  • Perfectly Normal - Robbie Harris

  • Real Live Boyfriends - E. Lockheart

  • So Hard To Say - Alex Sanchez

  • The Hate U Give - Angie Thomas

  • The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini

  • The Story of Werewolves - Thomas G. Aylesworth

  • The Truth About Alice - Jennifer Mathieu

  • Thirteen Reasons Why - Jay Asher

  • Tricks - Ellen Hokins

Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.