St. Johns board upholds committees' recommendations but restricts six contested books to older students with parental permission

The St. Johns County School Board on Tuesday heard objections to six library titles and voted to keep all six in school collections while placing grade-level limits and requiring parental permission for student checkout.

The board conducted a hearing on written objections filed by Jean Moore, who objected to Tower of Dawn, Strange Truth, Storm and Fury, Half of a Yellow Sun, 19 Minutes and Normal People. The district's review committees had recommended retaining the titles for grades 9–12; Superintendent Tim Forsen accepted those recommendations before the appeal to the board. Board members then discussed each book and voted on restrictions.

Why it matters: The hearing tested the district's process for handling book objections under Florida law and highlighted disputes over age-appropriateness, explicit language and whether library materials should be limited at the school-district level. The board's decisions will affect what high-school students in St. Johns County can check out without additional parental consent.

At the hearing, Jean Moore, who filed the written objections and represented herself, read selected passages and argued repeatedly that explicit sexual content, profanity and graphic descriptions in the contested books were unnecessary and harmful to minors. "Kids don't need to pick around the cockroach to find the good parts," Moore said, using a metaphor she…