Parents petition court to remove five books from Williamson County middle, high schools

A group of Williamson County parents, represented by a Tennessee legislator, is turning to the courts to try to remove from school libraries a handful of books they feel are "wholly inappropriate" for middle and high school students.

The parents filed a petition Friday in Williamson County Chancery Court, accusing the county's board of education of violating a state law passed in 2022 that requires school boards to review library materials and remove those deemed inappropriate for students.

Aundrea Gomez, a Franklin resident, is the only named plaintiff in the case, and she's joined by three anonymous Franklin residents whose children attend Summit and Ravenwood High Schools. Gomez does not appear to have children at a Williamson County School. The petition says her children are "eligible to attend Williamson County Schools, one of whom attended such schools during the events giving rise to this action."

Freshman Rep. Gino Bulso, R-Brentwood, is serving as attorney for the parents.

The parents are asking the court to order the Williamson County Board of Education to remove five books that the board allowed to stay in the schools by an 8-2 vote during its June 19 meeting. The books are:

• "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky

• "Where the Crawdads Sing" by Delia Owens

• "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson

• "The Field Guide to the North American Teenager" by Ben Philippe

• "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" by Jonathan Safran

"The library collections contain obscene materials that depict, and in many cases encourage promiscuous sexual behavior, deviant sexual behavior, rape, abortion, contraception, drug use, and drunkenness," the lawsuit reads. "These materials create pornographic visual images wholly inappropriate for middle school students, high school students, or students of any age or level of maturity."

Board members at the June meeting voted to keep the books based on the recommendation of their book review committee, and the majority of the members were supportive of the books.

"These books are not promoting horrific activities. They teach kids a way to relate to difficult circumstances and how to communicate it to parents and peers. The power of books is a double-edged sword, and I would hate to stifle that," board member KC Haugh said at the June 19 meeting.

The parents raise three concerns regarding the board's compliance with the Age-Appropriate Materials Act, which went into effect in March 2022.

They allege that the school district did not adopt an adequate procedure for developing and reviewing library collections or periodically review the library collections, both of which are required under the law. And, they say board members didn't actually evaluate the five books and determine whether they were appropriate for students after parents made the complaints.

"Instead, the Board followed a convoluted process whereby, at its meeting, it simply 'approved' by a vote of 8-2 the recommendations ... of two committees who had reviewed the materials and allowed the books to remain in the schools," the lawsuit reads.

Board member Eric Welch told The Tennessean at the time of the June 19 meeting that one local parent was responsible for the complaint against four of the books and that the complaint against "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" was filed by a woman with "zero" connection to Williamson County Schools who had not read the book.

The lawsuit also references seven other books available at district high schools that the parents feel are inappropriate for students. Those are:

• "What Girls Are Made Of" by Elana K. Arnold

• "Leah on the Offbeat" by Becky Albertalli

• "Sold" by Patricia McCormick

• "Tricks" by Ellen Hopkins

• "Lucky" by Marissa Stapley

• "Yolo" by Lauren Myracle

• "Deogratias" by Jean-Philippe Stassen, which the lawsuit says is also available at Brentwood Middle School

More: Book removals and bans are on the rise: Here are the books targeted in Tennessee

Efforts to limit access or ban books have grown in recent years, with more demands to censor books in the U.S. in 2022 than any year since the American Library Association began keeping track more than 20 years ago.

Bulso pushed back against the idea that his clients are trying to ban books.

"No one is even contemplating that a book would be banned in a commercial setting or in a public library, or something of that nature. The only issue here is whether it's appropriate to make these obscene materials available to children in middle school and high school," Bulso said.

It's unclear how Williamson County Schools will respond to the lawsuit or if the books will remain available. A spokesperson for the school district said it could not comment on pending litigation.

Evan Mealins is the justice reporter for The Tennessean. Contact him at emealins@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanMealins.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Williamson County parents petition court to remove books from schools