'Stop banning books': Protesters rally at Brevard Public Schools' district office

Under the bright early morning sun on the final day of June, a crowd gathered outside the Brevard Public Schools district office in Viera, outfitted with signs, American flags, rainbows — and a megaphone.

"Stop banning books! Stop banning books!" shouted the group of about 75 protesters.

The rally, organized by Awake Brevard Action Alliance, was set to gather ahead of the district's second book review committee meeting. But citing concerns about members of the public making “threatening” and “insulting” comments and social media posts, the school board canceled the meeting slated for Friday morning.

“Why are we doing this?” board member Gene Trent said at Tuesday’s board meeting, moments before the committee meeting was postponed. “Because we care, and we care about the people that are involved.”

But with the school board poised to make changes to the book review policy, like moving the public comment section to board meetings rather than keeping them in the committee meetings, community members wanted to get their voices heard. So they gathered at 8 a.m. Friday, undeterred by the cancelation.

"This rally is to let the BPS school board know that the public is here, we are concerned and we will not be silent," said parent Kelly Kervin, one of the organizers.

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'Americans don't like book burners'

Amy Roub, wife of book committee member Paul Roub, has been vocal on social media about being against removing books from school libraries. She said she felt the board was trying to "muzzle" her by canceling the meeting.

"I think I'm an easy target because I'm being the loudest, and this is what it looks like when you push back against fascists," she said. "They try to silence you, and we need to meet them — we need to meet their energy."

Roub often posts to her Facebook and TikTok about the school board or Brevard’s chapter of Moms for Liberty, a conservative parents’ rights group. With the book committee reconvening this June after several months of being on pause, her posts have touched on her frustration with texts being removed from schools.

She's never liked public speaking, but after her husband's first meeting in the fall of 2022, she wanted to push back against those who wanted to restrict access to books.

"Americans don't like fascists," she said. "Americans don't like book burners. We don't want you here, you're not welcome. And there are more of us than them, and we will win this."

The Brevard chapter of Citizens Defending Freedom, a conservative group that describes itself as empowering "citizens to defend their freedom and liberty" and put "local government back into the hands of the people," had also planned to rally prior to the book committee meeting and to speak during the public comments portion of the meeting. The group called off the protest but encouraged members to email their comments to school board members.

In an initial email encouraging members to join their rally, Ruth Kaufhold, director of the group's Brevard chapter, laid out suggestions for what people could say during the meeting.

"You can say something as simple as, 'Please follow the statutes and remove this book out of our Brevard County school libraries,' or, 'This material is not appropriate in a school setting with unaccompanied minors,' and then sit down to enforce our physical presence as support of our task to remove pornographic and inappropriate materials from Brevard County school libraries," Kaufhold wrote.

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Changes to the book policy

With the board prepped to make changes to their policy that will include new state statutes, it's not clear when the next book committee meeting will be held.

During a June 6 work session, board members discussed the possible changes they'd like to add to the policy, which was approved only a little over two months ago, at an April 11 meeting. These changes include moving public comment to school board meetings and having the book committee make a recommendation to the school board about the fate of a contested book. The school board would then make the final decision about whether or not the book could stay on shelves.

Michelle Beavers, Trent’s appointee to the book committee, said she likes the idea of the school board taking recommendations from the book committee.

"If the committee makes a bad choice and keeps a title that might be in violation, the people that will be held accountable should have the opportunity to have the final say," she said.

"In other words, how can you hold the school board accountable if the decision was never theirs to make? It does not make sense to not allow them to be on record of how they stand because they can be sued if they don’t follow the law and protect our kids."

Paul Roub, Jennifer Jenkin's appointee and the only Democrat on the committee, said he already felt his vote was "pretty ceremonial" and moving the decision to board members likely won't change much. But he's concerned board members won't actually read the books prior to voting.

"The law that they claim to care about says that (the decision) need to be based on the entire book," he said. "There is not a molecule in my body that believes Gene Trent is going to read these books."

Though their opinions differ wildly on what should or shouldn't be kept on shelves, both Roub and Beavers expressed disappointment in Friday's meeting being canceled.

"If you appreciate the work that we put in, then let us have the meeting," Roub said, adding that he started a new job last week and had worked with his employer to take off time for the meeting Friday. "I read the book, let's have the meeting."

Beavers expressed a similar sentiment, saying everyone had already prepared for the meeting prior to its last-minute cancelation.

“I was very disappointed they took away the meeting we were all ready for,” Beavers said. “I did reach out and ask a board member to please not cancel as everyone was ready, but they decided to cancel.”

Roub disputed the idea that the cancelation was meant to protect anyone, saying he's been called a "groomer" since last year for having a more liberal view on book restrictions and that the school board didn't express concern then.

"I signed up for this and it's okay, people are going to be mad at me," he said. "I'm a big boy, I'm an adult."

Beavers said the public comments took up a large chunk of the meeting, with speakers discussing personal stories she didn't think pertained to the work of the committee.

"We are supposed to be looking at the statutes and deciding if the book violates the law," she said. "I’m not uncomfortable with these comments, but so many are irrelevant to what we are there to do."

Finch Walker is the education reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Walker at 321-290-4744 or fwalker@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @_finchwalker.

What books have already been pulled?

Three books, all by poet Rupi Kaur, have been completely removed from all BPS schools by the book review committee, a decision that will remain in place for eight years and cannot be appealed. At least 30 other books await review by the committee.

After a list of 296 titles was submitted anonymously as an informal request in May, about 155 books were pulled from some school library shelves. Unless the petitioner escalates the request to the formal level, these books will not need to be reviewed by the committee.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Brevard schools book ban under protest at rally in Viera, Florida