Polk County School parents will be able to determine which books and media materials their children have access to in the new school year, for the fourth semester in a row.
Last year about 156 families used the system, that’s less than one percent of the student population.
Families in Polk County Schools can use the Parent Portal tool to look through the entire library catalog at their school and classroom library.
Then, if they find a title they have an objection to, they can opt out of that book for their child, which means their child won’t be able to check out the book or view it.
The district posted this tutorial on their Facebook page:
The tool will be available January 2 thru January 15. There is no limit to the number of books families can opt out of. Flagler schools have a similar opt out tool for parents.
Under Florida law, parents have the right to review their school districts’ instructional materials and library books and lodge complaints.
Gov. Ron DeSantis and other supporters of the law say it’s needed in order to keep age-inappropriate content out of children’s hands.
The tool is reopening again as Florida leads the country with the most banned and censored books according to Pen America.
The nonprofit found 1,406 incidents of book bans at public schools in the state last school year. That's 40% of all book bans across the country.
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