FRANKFORT, Ky. — A bill on how local school boards handle parent complaints about books and other materials has moved forward in Frankfort.
Sen. Jason Howell (R-Murray) said the purpose of Senate Bill 5 is to make sure parents and guardians are involved in keeping students from accessing material they think is harmful to family values.
It defines what’s considered “harmful to minors” as materials that show, “in an obscene manner,” genitals or descriptions of sexual acts or are “patently offensive to prevailing standards.”
The measure requires local school boards to set up policies to handle complaints and says principals must review the complaint within a week to decide if the material should remain, be restricted or removed.
The bill also sets up an appeals process.
“I think what we were trying to accomplish here with the work that was done on this statute, is to afford parents as much control and as much control within their local communities as possible,” said Howell. “Something that may be viewed a certain way, a material or event that might be viewed a certain way in Fulton County, might be viewed differently by parents or school systems in Fayette County.”
Kate Miller, advocacy director with the ACLU of Kentucky, called the bill “state-sponsored censorship.”
“It appears that this most recent example may be in response to a book or books related to sexual orientation or gender identity, but in years past, the focus has been on race, and in coming years, it will be on something new, but what’s not new is that this legislature, irrespective of party, has always and probably will always prioritize censoring viewpoints that are inconsistent with their own,” she said.
The only member to vote against the measure in committee, Sen. Reginald Thomas (D-Lexington), called it a “book-banning bill” that limits education.
Sen. Stephen Meredith (R-Leitchfield) said the bill was not unreasonable.
“It puts a process in place, a due process in place so parents can ask this to be judged and somebody makes a final determination,” he said. “It’s just not banning books wholesale.”
The bill passed the Senate Thursday afternoon and heads next to the House for consideration.