TULSA, Okla. — The Oklahoma State Board of Education voted to enact new restrictions on school library books and sexual education Thursday - despite disapproval from the state's attorney general.
Another rule forbids teachers from hiding a child’s sensitive information from their parents.
The guidelines would result in schools losing accreditation if violations are found.
The meeting inside the Oliver Hodge Building in Oklahoma City was charged from the get-go, with overflow crowds lining the halls outside the boardroom.
State Superintendent Ryan Walters’ office sent out a release before the session saying the issues would "reach a boiling point" during the session.
After two unanimous votes, the Oklahoma Board of Education enacted requirements for educators to eliminate any library material the agency considers obscene or pornographic.
This means schools would have to submit annual lists of their library collections for another assigned professional to review.
New rules also allow parents to review and object to sexual education materials.
Teachers must also disclose to parents any information known about their child’s health, social or psychological standing, including gender identity and pronouns.
Some in attendance took issue during public comments.
“K-12 teachers should not be expected to manage the mental health of their numerous students,” one speaker said.
But some, like Tulsa Public Schools Board Member E’Lena Ashley, made the trip to speak in support of Walters.
“His campaign was to protect both students and educators. And I see that that is what he is trying to do,” Ashley said.
Walters justified his proposals to the board by saying they empower parents, while also presenting slides of a sex education graphic novel and ranting against teachers unions, political opponents, and the press.
“(The proposed rule) is what Oklahomans want for their kids," Walters said.
"They want kids to be empowered, and they want kids to be prepared for the workforce, not become a target of radical woke indoctrination from the minds of Joe Biden, George Soros, and every other woke radical in the country.”
Few people in Green Country know libraries better than retired head librarian of Tulsa Public Schools Susan Ault Babbitt, who also served as branch manager at the Collinsville Tulsa City-County Library. 2 News spoke with Babbitt over the phone Thursday afternoon.
She said the school librarians already do enough for students.
“If one person gets to one (unapproved) book, then you can lose your accreditation," Babbitt said. "Well, who’s that person?”
“We (librarians) are trained in book selection. And we do our very best job to find whatever’s appropriate for the age group we work with.”
In a nonbinding legal opinion issued last week ,Oklahoma AG Gentner Drummond's office concluded that the vote on the new rules is "invalid", reading in part,
"...It is the opinion of the undersigned counsel that the Legislature may delegate rulemaking authority to the Board, but section 3-104(A)(1) does not authorize rulemaking on a specific statute or subject. Further, even if section 3-104(A)(1) did confer specific rulemaking authority, that subsection alone would likely violate the non-delegation doctrine as the language does not identify legislative policy and set intelligible standards to guide the Board in promulgating specific administrative rules. It therefore follows that any rule which is promulgated only using the general “powers and duties” within section 3-104 is invalid and may not be enforced by the State Department of Education or the Board."
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