Orange County school board agrees to temporarily remove 13 titles after State Board calls them pornographic

At the June 10 meeting, the Orange County School Board signaled it would temporarily remove 13 book titles from school shelves after the Florida State Board of Education identified a longer list of titles it considered pornographic.

Superintendent Maria Vasquez asked the board for authority to take the books off shelves during the summer so staff could review the list and bring policy recommendations back to the board. “Allow the team to revisit our policy and then bring that back to the board,” Vasquez said, asking for a nod or consensus for a temporary action while staff work quickly to review the matter.

Board counsel John Pomerini told trustees that while the board has local control, the Florida Constitution gives the State Board of Education supervisory authority over public education. He warned that ignoring the State Board’s directive could expose district leaders and staff to enforcement action: “I can’t recommend that you keep them on in light of what we saw last week,” Pomerini said. He summarized legal precedent that requires public officials to presume legislative and State Board actions are constitutional until a court rules otherwise.

Vice Chair (Member) Byrd said the State Board had “very clearly last week said that these 57 books are pornographic in their opinion and do not belong on school shelves,” and urged the district to remove titles and note the reason on the district website. Several board members expressed frustration with the state process and said they were uncomfortable with it; others said they would not risk exposing the superintendent, staff or the district to legal referral or other consequences.

After extended discussion about process, statutory language and case law — including references to Florida Statute 1006.28 (instructional and library materials), Florida Statute 847.12 (prohibitions on distribution of obscene material to minors) and relevant court rulings — the board reached a practical decision: staff will temporarily remove the 13 titles that appear on the district’s holdings and post an explanation (citing the State Board action) while the district’s review proceeds. Vasquez said staff aim to complete a fast review and return recommendations to the board by late June or, if necessary, at the July meeting.

Board members stressed several points: they want transparency about which books were removed and why; they said future challenges should continue to follow the district’s adopted review process for contested materials; and they repeatedly said they did not want the superintendent or staff singled out for enforcement actions that might arise from disagreement with the State Board. Several trustees also urged the district to preserve the established committee process for new challenges going forward.

The transcript records no new ordinance or statute change; the action is a temporary administrative step in response to the State Board directive and the legal assessment provided in the meeting. The board directed staff to post the list of removed titles and an explanation to the district website and to report back promptly with next steps.