![]() ![]() Roberto Alonso, School Board member for District 4 where Bob Graham Education Center is located, did not respond to a phone call request for comment. READ MORE: Black community wants apology after School Board member tried to block colleague at meeting School libraries are meant “to support the curriculum of the school and I don’t see how these books support the curriculum,” she said. She argued the books should have been removed for all students. Salinas, for her part, also questioned the reasoning behind why some books remain available for middle schoolers. When asked to provide examples, district officials said staff was not involved in the committee review and therefore “cannot speak to the intent, reasoning or provide examples.” The committee did not include examples of what the reviewers considered inappropriate for elementary students but “more appropriate” for middle schoolers. The books would be kept in the middle school section of the media center, the review concluded. The four other titles were deemed “better suited” or “more appropriate” for middle school students, despite acknowledging that at least one book, The ABCs of Black History, was written for ages 5 and up. In an interview with the Herald on Monday, Salinas said she “is not for eliminating or censoring any books.” Instead, she wants materials to be appropriate and for students “to know the truth” about Cuba, she said in Spanish.Ī school materials review committee - composed of three teachers, a library media specialist, a guidance counselor and the school’s principal, among others - however, determined one book, Countries in the News: Cuba, was “balanced and age appropriate in its wording and presentation” and would remain available for all students. READ MORE: Poet speaks up after Miami-Dade school bars elementary students from reading her poem 20, 2021, inauguration of President Joe Biden, and Love to Langston for what she said included references of critical race theory, “indirect hate messages,” gender ideology and indoctrination, according to records obtained by the Florida Freedom to Read Project and shared with the Miami Herald. In March, Daily Salinas, a parent of two students at at Bob Graham Education Center in Miami Lakes, challenged The ABCs of Black History, Cuban Kids, Countries in the News Cuba, the poem The Hill We Climb, which was recited by poet Amanda Gorman at the Jan. ![]() The challenges were “school-level only” and “impact one school,” district staff said in an email Monday. The books aren’t being banned from the district, she argued, “but they’re banned for the students they were intended for.” “Books written for students grades K-5 are being pushed to middle school out of reach for the students they were intended for,” she said. The move - which allows for middle school students at the school to access the titles - is the latest example of districts and schools across the state restricting or removing books from libraries in recent months.įor Stephana Ferrell, the director of research and insight at Florida Freedom to Read Project, it underscores a growing trend to redefine what is considered age appropriate, “especially regarding books that address ethnicities, marginalized communities, racism or our history of racism.” A K-8 school in Miami-Dade County last month issued restrictions for elementary-aged students on three books and one poem after a parent objected to five titles, claiming they included topics that were inappropriate for students and should be removed “from the total environment.”
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