Palm Coast resident challenges Bible in Flagler Schools, unhappy with review process

In June, Palm Coast resident Bob Gordon challenged the Bible in Flagler County Schools. On Oct. 30, Superintendent LaShakia Moore informed him that the book would remain in school media centers and could be used in classroom instruction.

Gordon found the challenge process to be unstructured and confusing, and he's not pleased with how it was handled.

According to the district, since the Bible is considered instructional material, it is not subject to challenge, and a decision regarding its place on school shelves was unnecessary.

The district referenced a memo from the Florida Department of Education to back its stance.

"Based on information provided through the Florida Department of Education and our current course offerings. (sic) It is determined that the Bible is appropriate for inclusion in our media centers," the district said in statement. "This resource is not only available in our media center but an approved resource in some courses. If a parent or guardian does not wish for their child to have access to this material, they have the ability to do so by choosing a level 2 or 3 media access for their child."

But in an appeal, Gordon referenced Florida Statute 1006.28, which says any material available in a school or classroom library or included on a reading list can be challenged if it is pornographic, depicts sexual content, is not suited to students' needs or is inappropriate for the grade level using the material. He felt that statute validated his challenge.

About the challenge

Gordon's challenge alleged that the Bible is sexually explicit, graphically violent, scientifically incorrect and, most notably, hateful toward homosexuals.

He listed nearly 40 Bible chapters and verses he felt supported his claim. Specifically, he said he found 18 sexually explicit passages, 17 graphically violent passages, and four passages that promote death or punishment of homosexuals.

Gordon challenged the Bible in its entirety in nine Flagler Schools, kindergarten through grade 12. His request did not include the Imagine School or iFlagler Virtual School.

At the time of his initial challenge, the Bible was available in libraries at Flagler-Palm Coast High School, Matanzas High School and Indian Trails Middle School, according to Gordon. And portions of the material were included in the Florida Department of Education's B.E.S.T. (Benchmark for Excellent Student Thinking) Standards for English Language Arts. The reading list recommends the Book of Esther for seventh-graders, II Samuel for high school sophomores, and the Book of Psalms for high school juniors.

"II Samuel and the Book of Psalms have some pretty problematic graphic sexual and vengeful violence content such as rape, incest, infanticide, etc., which should make one wonder what the Board of Education was thinking when they included these on the list," Gordon said in an email. "About 20% of Psalms invoke imprecatory vengeful curses, calamities, violence and cruelty. II Samuel contains its share of rape, incest, adultery and violence."

According to Flagler Schools, the Bible is not used directly in district curriculum maps, but it can be referenced and used in high school English I and English II as well as middle and high school world history.

Flagler Schools confirmed to The News-Journal that the Quran, or Koran; Torah; Guru Granth Sahib; Bhagavad Gita; and the Tipitaka are also available in district media centers.

And according to the district, other religious texts could potentially be used in high school world history classes based on the Florida Department of Education course standards.

A similar challenge was recently dismissed in Volusia County Schools, as well.

The 75-year-old Gordon has no children enrolled in the district. When asked if he knows of anyone who has been personally victimized or harmed as a result of reading the Bible, Gordon said he did not. However, he explained that his motivation in challenging this book was to protect children and young adults in the community.

“This is the kind of stuff that young kids shouldn’t be looking at. … It’s just totally inappropriate for any grade level, whether it’s kindergarten or all the way into high school,” he said. “The homosexuality part of it is most disturbing because ... oftentimes, these books are banned and predicated on homosexual activity. And now you have a book — a blessing, here, so to speak — which says you can kill homosexuals ... and says they’re going to burn in hell, so the hypocrisy associated with that is enough to upset me a bit.”

Challenging books at Flagler County Schools

In the 2022-23 school year, 24 books were challenged in Flagler Schools, 11 of which were banned. For the 2023-24 school year, the district has already seen one challenge, and five books have been removed due to statute, according to district records.

Gordon said he's "not even close" to being satisfied with how the district handled his challenge.

"Frankly," Gordon said in an email to Moore following the decision, "the only takeaway so far from this challenge process is that the School District, has concluded that the book's content, irrespective of the rape, incest, prostitution, bestiality, graphic vengeful violence and advocating the killing of homosexuals is just fine for K-12 children simply and only because it's perceived as the word of a popular Christian deity."

Flagler Schools accurately followed the process for reviewing challenged materials, according to district records, and in this instance, there was no need for a formal review because the Bible can be used as instructional material.

However, Gordon was initially unaware of that.

When a complaint is first made, according to district procedure, the school principal and library media specialist must first meet with the complainant to discuss why the material is included in library resources. If the complainant accepts the explanation, the case is closed. If not, the complainant must submit a “Request for Reconsideration of Material,” a Google form that county residents can use to identify challenged material and note a rationale behind their challenge.

Gordon submitted nine Requests for Reconsideration of Materials on June 6. He also reached out to the nine respective school principals a few days after his requests were filed to informally discuss his challenges. According to Gordon, Moore advised him that those meetings were optional. But the district procedure had it listed as the first step.

"I wanted to make sure I carefully followed the policy and law," Gordon said in an email, "Something the school district has not."

Moore did not respond to The News-Journal's request for comment.

After receiving a Request for Reconsideration of Material, the school-level review committee — comprised of teachers, educational media specialists and parents of students — is expected to read and re-evaluate the challenged material and then report a decision within 15 days. The challenged material can remain available in schools as it is reviewed unless the principal decides otherwise.

On Sept. 1, Gordon received what he described as a “strange response” to his request from Celeste Ackerman, Flagler’s teaching and learning specialist for English and Language Arts grades six through 12, explaining that the Bible cannot be challenged because passages are included on a district recommended reading list.

“Of course, I kind of scratched my head a bit," Gordon said. "You know, that doesn’t make too much sense."

He appealed the decision to Superintendent Moore on Sept. 9, adding the addendum that reading lists can be challenged.

On Sept. 25, Gordon received an email from Moore indicating that his challenge would be reviewed on Sept. 28 and that a recommendation would be made pending that meeting. He did not hear any updates following that meeting.

Gordon questioned whether his initial request was accurately reviewed by a school-level review committee as is required, and he requested meeting minutes and a full explanation of how this decision came about.

He said he received no response to his email, and did not know where his request stood.

On Nov. 5, Gordon reached out to Moore again, asking once more how the Department of Education memo creates an exception for the Bible and whether the district includes any other religious texts in libraries or instructional materials.

Again, Gordon said Moore did not respond.

“All this leaves the impression that the Flagler County School District does not grasp their own procedures, as well as related to Florida statutes, and are not fulfilling their book challenge obligations,” Gordon said in an email. “It begs the question … have they ever ‘slow walked’ this particular challenge intentionally because the Bible being challenged is controversial and uncomfortable and they are looking for a way to hold this book to a different standard, or are they just confused?"

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Flagler County Schools will keep Bible on shelves despite challenge