By Tracy McCormick-Dishman
A day after a federal judge ruled major portions of Florida’s book challenge law unconstitutional, Nassau County School Board heard public comments exclusively from opponents of book restrictions during their Thursday school board meeting, while the district continues to process 146 pending book objections from community members.
Legal uncertainties remain
School board attorney Brett Steger explained that while Wednesday’s federal court decision is significant, it is not binding on Nassau County’s jurisdiction and will likely face appeal.
“The case really more comes down to the ultimate decision that’s made and after analyzing all the factors,” Steger said, noting that the district’s Administrative Rule 8.33 “sets forward a constitutional process.”
“I think the board should be very wary moving forward or the committees, the statutory compliance team needs to be very clear on all the factors that come into play before making a final decision,” he advised, indicating the ruling doesn’t immediately resolve the district’s obligations under state law.
Community voices on book access
While no supporters of book challenges spoke at Thursday’s meeting, several parents defended unrestricted library access. Gail Kersten of Fernandina Beach urged the board to “align our district’s policies with both the Constitution and the Court’s ruling, and to end the potentially driven censorship that is robbing our students of a full and honest education.”
Her husband Mike Kersten emphasized the legal implications: “U.S. District Judge Carlos Mendoza of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida called Florida’s book law, what it is, overbroad and unconstitutional.”
Rachel Steele, a parent of three Nassau County students, highlighted existing parental controls. “2024-25 parent opt-out data for Nassau County shows that 99.5% of parents in our county did not restrict access at all to the reading materials they want available to their children. Out of 12,600 students in the fall of 2024, only 63 parents restricted some level of reading materials to their children.”
Ongoing challenge activity suggests different perspective
Despite the unanimous opposition voiced at Thursday’s meeting, the district continues processing a substantial number of book challenges. Dr. Misty Mathis, executive director of curriculum and instruction for Nassau County School District, reported that Nassau County currently has 146 objections pending review from parents and community members, suggesting significant community support for the challenge process exists even though those voices were not represented in public testimony.
District manages competing pressures
The board voted to maintain Administrative Rule 8.33, which governs the book objection process. The policy represents the district’s attempt to comply with state law requirements while managing the challenge process efficiently.
Superintendent Dr. Kathy Burns and district officials have emphasized the significant administrative burden created by the state-mandated process. Steger praised district staff, particularly Mathis and Dr. Kari Burgess-Watkins, saying they “have led us to have a policy that I feel like is in the best that we can do with very little leadership and directive” following the law’s passage.
State law requirements drive policy
The district’s book challenge policy exists to comply with Florida’s House Bills 1467 and 1069, which require school districts to establish procedures for reviewing challenged materials. The laws mandate immediate removal of books during the review process and have resulted in the removal of numerous titles statewide, including literary classics and books addressing LGBTQ+ themes.
U.S. District Judge Carlos Mendoza’s Wednesday ruling found that the law’s focus on books that “describe sexual content” is “overbroad” and “unconstitutional.” However, state officials have announced plans to appeal the federal court ruling, leaving school districts in an uncertain legal position.
Major publishers, including Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster, have filed lawsuits challenging the law as a violation of First Amendment rights.
The Nassau County School District maintains parental opt-out procedures that allow individual families to control their children’s library access while preserving materials for other students whose families choose unrestricted access.
Book Challenge Data Analysis
Editor’s note: The district reported 146 pending book objections during Thursday’s school board meeting. The list obtained by this newspaper on Monday, Aug. 11, contains 141 total objections, including both pending reviews and completed cases. The difference may reflect objections filed between Monday and Thursday’s meeting.
Based on Nassau County School District records as of Monday, Aug. 11, the district has 141 total book objections on file, with 120 books currently pending review and unavailable to students.
The pending books include popular young adult titles such as “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky, “Thirteen Reasons Why” by Jay Asher, “The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas, and classics like “Beloved” by Toni Morrison and “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood.
Of the 21 books that have completed the review process:
- 15 books were removed or discontinued from district libraries.
- 3 books had access limited to grades 11 and 12.
- 3 books were retained with no restrictions for students in grades 9 and up.
Nine books were removed following a June 4, 2025 directive from the Florida State Board of Education, while 12 books were reviewed through the local committee process.
Complete List of Books Under Objection:
PENDING REVIEW (120 books currently unavailable to students):
“33 Snowfish” by Adam Rapp – Status: Pending
“A Clockwork Orange” by Anthony Burgess – Status: Removed/Discontinued – Notes: To comply with the 6/4/2025 directive of the State Board of Education, the School Board voted on 7/10/2025 to remove this title from the district-wide library media center collection
“A Court of Frost and Starlight” by Sarah J. Maas – Status: Removed/Discontinued – Notes: To comply with the 6/4/2025 directive of the State Board of Education, the School Board voted on 7/10/2025 to remove this title from the district-wide library media center collection
“A Court of Wings and Ruin” by Sarah J. Maas – Status: Pending
“All American Boys” by Jason Reynolds – Status: Pending
“All the Bright Places” by Jennifer Niven – Status: Pending
“All the Things We Do in the Dark” by Saundra Mitchell – Status: Pending
“Alice on the Outside” by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor – Status: Pending
“Almost Perfect” by Brian Katcher – Status: Pending
“America” by E. R. Frank – Status: Pending
“And Tango Makes Three” by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell – Status: Pending
“Ask the Passengers” by A.S. King – Status: Pending
“Beloved” by Toni Morrison – Status: Pending
“Beyond Magenta” by Susan Kuklin – Status: Pending
“Boy Girl Boy” by Ron Koertge – Status: Pending
“Boy Toy” by Barry Lyga – Status: Pending
“Brave New World: A Graphic Novel” by Aldous Huxley – Status: Pending
“Breathless” by Jennifer Niven – Status: Removed/Discontinued – Notes: To comply with the 6/4/2025 directive of the State Board of Education, the School Board voted on 7/10/2025 to remove this title from the district-wide library media center collection
“Bumped” by Megan McCafferty – Status: Pending
“Burned” by Ellen Hopkins – Status: Pending
“Chosen” by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast – Status: Pending
“Clockwork Princess” by Cassandra Clare – Status: Pending
“Concrete Rose” by Angie Thomas – Status: Pending
“Confess” by Colleen Hoover – Status: Pending
“Crank” by Ellen Hopkins – Status: Pending
“Crown of Midnight” by Sarah Maas – Status: Pending
“Cut” by Patricia McCormick – Status: Pending
“Darius the Great Deserves Better” by Adib Khorram – Status: Pending
“Dead End” by Jason Myers – Status: Pending
“Dear Evan Hansen” by Val Emmich – Status: Pending
“Deogratias: A Tale of Rwanda” by Jean-Philippe Stassen – Status: Pending
“Dime” by E. R. Frank – Status: Pending
“Drama” by Raina Telgemeier – Status: Pending
“Eleanor and Park” by Rainbow Rowell – Status: Pending
“Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry” by Joya Goffney – Status: Pending
“Fade” by Lisa McMann – Status: Pending
“Fallout” by Ellen Hopkins – Status: Pending
“Forever…” by Judy Bloom – Status: Pending
“Friday” by Robert Heinlein – Status: Pending
“Ghost Boys” by Jewell Parker Rhodes – Status: Pending
“Girl in Translation” by Jean Kwok – Status: Pending
“Glass” by Ellen Hopkins – Status: Pending
“Go Ask Alice” by Anonymous/Beatrice Sparks – Status: Pending
“Grit” by Gillian French – Status: Pending
“Grown” by Tiffany D. Jackson – Status: Pending
“Guyaholic” by Carolyn Mackler – Status: Pending
“Half of a Yellow Sun” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – Status: Pending
“Heir of Fire” by Sarah Maas – Status: Pending
“Heroine” by Mindy McGinnis – Status: Pending
“Hopeless: A Novel” by Colleen Hoover – Status: Pending
“I am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter” by Erika Sanchez – Status: Pending
“I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou – Status: Pending
“I’ll Give You The Sun” by Jandy Nelson – Status: Pending
“Identical” by Ellen Hopkins – Status: Pending
“If I was Your Girl” by Meredith Russo – Status: Pending
“Impulse” by Ellen Hopkins – Status: Pending
“Kingdom of Ash” by Sarah Maas – Status: Pending
“l8R, g8R” by Lauren Myracle – Status: Pending
“Lady Midnight: The Dark Artifices, Book 1” by Cassandra Clare – Status: Pending
“Little & Lion” by Brandy Colbert – Status: Pending
“Looking for Alaska” by John Green – Status: Pending
“Loveless” by Alice Oseman – Status: Pending
“Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” by Jesse Andrews – Status: Pending
“Monday’s Not Coming” by Tiffany Jackson – Status: Pending
“Moxie” by Jennifer Mathieu – Status: Pending
“Native Son” by Richard Wright – Status: Pending
“Neanderthal Opens the Door to the Universe” by Preston Norton – Status: Pending
“November 9” by Colleen Hoover – Status: Pending
“Oryx and Crake” by Margaret Atwood – Status: Pending
“Perfect Chemistry” by Simone Elkeles – Status: Pending
“Portnoy’s Complaint” by Philip Roth – Status: Pending
“Ramona Blue” by Julie Murphy – Status: Pending
“Ready Player One” by Ernest Cline – Status: Pending
“Real Live Boyfriends” by E. Lockhart – Status: Pending
“Relish: My Life in the Kitchen” by Lucy Knisley – Status: Pending
“Shiver” by Maggie Stiefvater – Status: Pending
“Shout: A Poetry Memoir” by Laurie Halse Anderson – Status: Pending
“Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda” by Becky Albertalli – Status: Pending
“Slaughterhouse Five: A Graphic Novel” by Kurt Vonnegut – Status: Pending
“Smoke” by Ellen Hopkins – Status: Pending
“Someone I Used to Know” by Patty Blount – Status: Pending
“Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson – Status: Pending
“Spinning” by Tillie Walden – Status: Pending
“Stained” by Jennifer R. Jacobson – Status: Pending
“Story of a Girl” by Sara Zarr – Status: Pending
“The Almost Moon” by Alice Sebold – Status: Pending
“The Art of Racing in the Rain: A Novel” by Garth Stein – Status: Pending
“The Black Flamingo” by Dean Atta – Status: Pending
“The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison – Status: Pending
“The Carnival at Bray” by Jessie Ann Foley – Status: Pending
“The Circle” by Dave Eggers – Status: Pending
“The Clan of Cave Bear” by Jean Auel – Status: Pending
“The Color Purple” by Alice Walker – Status: Pending
“The Duff” by Kody Keplinger – Status: Removed/Discontinued – Notes: To comply with the 6/4/2025 directive of the State Board of Education, the School Board voted on 7/10/2025 to remove this title from the district-wide library media center collection
“The Fault In Our Stars” by John Green – Status: Pending
“The Female of the Species” by Mindy McGuiness – Status: Pending
“The Freedom Writer’s Diary” by The Freedom Writers with Erin Gruwell – Status: Pending
“The Girl Who Fell From The Sky” by Heidi W. Durrow – Status: Pending
“The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood – Status: Pending
“The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas – Status: Pending
“The Haters” by Jesse Andrews – Status: Pending
“The Honeys” by Ryan La Sala – Status: Pending
“The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini – Status: Pending
“The Lovely Bones” by Alice Sebold – Status: Pending
“The Nowhere Girls” by Amy Reed – Status: Pending
“The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky – Status: Pending
“The Poet X” by Elizabeth Acevedo – Status: Pending
“The Testaments” by Margaret Atwood – Status: Pending
“The Truth About Alice” by Jennifer Mathieu – Status: Pending
“The Upside of Unrequited” by Becky Albertalli – Status: Pending
“The Vampire Academy” by Richelle Mead – Status: Pending
“Thirteen Reasons Why” by Jay Asher – Status: Pending
“This is a Kind of Epic Love Story” by Kheryn Callender – Status: Removed/Discontinued – Notes: To comply with the 6/4/2025 directive of the State Board of Education, the School Board voted on 7/10/2025 to remove this title from the district-wide library media center collection
“This One Summer” by Mariko Tamaki – Status: Pending
“Throne of Glass” by Sarah Maas – Status: Pending
“Tilt” by Ellen Hopkins – Status: Removed/Discontinued – Notes: To comply with the 6/4/2025 directive of the State Board of Education, the School Board voted on 7/10/2025 to remove this title from the district-wide library media center collection
“To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before” by Jerry Han – Status: Pending
“Traffick” by Ellen Hopkins – Status: Pending
“Tricks” by Ellen Hopkins – Status: Removed/Discontinued – Notes: To comply with the 6/4/2025 directive of the State Board of Education, the School Board voted on 7/10/2025 to remove this title from the district-wide library media center collection
“TTFN” by Lauren Myracle – Status: Pending
“Ugly Love” by Colleen Hoover – Status: Pending
“Unravel Me” by Tahereh Mafi – Status: Pending
“We Are The Ants” by Shawn David Hutchinson – Status: Pending
“What My Mother Doesn’t Know” by Sonya Sones – Status: Pending
“Where I End & You Begin” by Preston Norton – Status: Pending
“Where The Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens – Status: Pending
“Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West” by Gregory Maguire – Status: Removed/Discontinued – Notes: To comply with the 6/4/2025 directive of the State Board of Education, the School Board voted on 7/10/2025 to remove this title from the district-wide library media center collection
BOOKS REVIEWED AND DECISIONS MADE:
Removed/Discontinued (6 additional books beyond state directive): “A Court of Mist and Fury” by Sarah Maas – Status: Removed/Discontinued – Notes: 12/16/2024 @ 5pm Nassau County School District Boardroom
“A Court of Thorns and Roses” by Sarah Maas – Status: Removed/Discontinued – Notes: 1/27/2025 @ 5pm Nassau County School District Boardroom
“Dreaming in Cuban” by Cristina Garcia – Status: Removed/Discontinued – Notes: 2/24/2025 @ 5pm Nassau County School District Boardroom
“Lucky” by Alice Sebold – Status: Removed/Discontinued – Notes: 3/31/2025 @ 5pm Nassau County School District Boardroom
“Sold” by Patricia McCormick – Status: Removed/Discontinued – Notes: To comply with the 6/4/2025 directive of the State Board of Education, the School Board voted on 7/10/2025 to remove this title from the district-wide library media center collection
Access Limited to Grades 11 and 12: “Beloved” by Toni Morrison – Status: Access Limited- Grades 11 and 12 – Notes: 2/24/2025 @ 5pm Nassau County School District Boardroom
“Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” by Jonathan Safran Foer – Status: Access Limited- Grades 11 and 12 – Notes: 3/31/2025 @ 5pm Nassau County School District Boardroom
Retained with No Restrictions: “Nineteen Minutes” by Jodi Picoult – Status: Did Not Remove/Discontinue/Limit Access (Appropriate for grades 9 and up) – Notes: 4/28/2025 @ 5pm Nassau County School District Boardroom
