RICHMOND, Va. — A new study from a nonpartisan government agency revealed that while most Virginia school divisions are not removing any books from their libraries, some are incorrectly citing a 2022 state law to justify removals.
The study, released Monday by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC), found that 344 books (243 titles were removed, with some being removed in multiple school divisions) have been removed from school libraries by about one-third of the divisions that responded to survey.
"That removal activity was pretty concentrated among a handful of divisions," said Justin Brown, JLARC's Senior Associate Director.
The study found Hanover County Public Schools (HCPS) topped the list, accounting for 36% of all removals. Rounding out the top four were Rockingham, Goochland, Madison, and Spotsylvania County Public Schools.
Among the most commonly removed titles over the past five years were "Gender Queer: A Memoir," "Tilt," and "The Perks of Being a Wallflower."
Brown, who led the study, explained that "sexually explicit content" was frequently cited as justification for removal. However, he noted that many divisions incorrectly referenced a 2022 state law that was actually designed to notify parents when their child would encounter sexually explicit material in their instructional materials and allow them to request alternative material.
"That law didn't really contemplate it being used for removing books from school libraries, but some divisions did use it for that reason," Brown said. "There's a specific enactment clause in the bill that makes it very clear the law wasn't about censoring or removing books."
Democratic lawmakers expressed concern about the misapplication of the law.
"It just is very concerning, because we do. I mean access to literature is important. Parents consent to access is very important, too, and so I am concerned about the our intendance of legislature, what we intended, it's not being implemented," said House Majority Leader Charniele Herring (D-Alexandria).
However, Republican lawmakers and commission staff pointed out that school divisions maintain authority to remove books regardless of the 2022 law.
"To be clear, the Constitution in Virginia gives local school boards the authority to make a tremendous amount of decisions for students in those jurisdictions," said Senate Minority Leader Ryan McDougle (R-Hanover).
In a statement provided to CBS 6, HCPS' Board Chair Whitney Welsh said the following:
"On behalf of the School Board, thank you for your inquiry. As is reflected in our adopted policy, the School Board believes in our libraries providing a wide range of age-appropriate materials. The deselection of these books fulfills the will of the School Board, our approved policy, and the accompanying regulation.
"We had many discussions as a Board regarding this topic over several years, the recordings and minutes of which can be found on BoardDocs. We do not have plans to revisit this policy."
HCPS added that its policy for removals did not cite the section of code highlighted in the JLARC report.
While the report did not include specific recommendations for lawmakers, Brown suggested that the state Department of Education could issue a clarification to school boards about the proper application of the law.
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