Florida House speaker investigates books in Hillsborough after content was challenged by parents

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Florida House Speaker Paul Renner sent a letter on Friday to a Florida school district demanding answers on a book that has been challenged by parents in the district. 

Renner on Friday announced he has requested records from Hillsborough County Public School [HCPS] officials regarding so-called "age-inappropriate" reading materials available in public school libraries.

Renner’s request seeks to "understand the decision-making processes for allowing such materials to be made available to young children and how school officials address parental objections."

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Florida House Speaker announced he has requested records from school district officials regarding so-called "age-inappropriate" reading materials available in public school libraries. (iStock)

"While the vast majority of reading and educational materials in our school libraries are age-appropriate, some books are so clearly obscene and directed to children that they would be rejected by adult bookstores. Any fair-minded person reviewing these books would agree, and we will not tolerate continued efforts to bypass Florida law," Renner wrote. "The Florida House of Representatives has an obligation to protect our children and a responsibility to uphold Florida law, which prohibits schools from exposing young children to age-inappropriate materials. These books have no place in our school system due to their graphic depiction of sexual conduct and step-by-step instructions of how to access digital sex apps on the internet."

Renner requested documents showing communications from HCPS to better understand how the book challenges are addressed. The documents included are communications, notes, memoranda, written policies, meeting agendas, meeting minutes, and "all drafts thereof." 

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Renner's office told Fox News Digital that "Speaker Renner will continue to exercise legislative oversight over school districts following Florida law as it pertains to exposing children to age-inappropriate materials."

The book that prompted the investigation is titled "This Book is Gay," which was challenged by local mom Julie Gebhards.

Fox News Digital previously reported that 'This Book is Gay,' which contains information on BDSM/kink, was found in DoDEA schools. (Juno Dawson | iStock)

Gebhard’s complaint about the book filed to Pierce Middle School on September 20, 2022, was struck down. The committee who reviewed the book voted unanimously that the book "This Book is Gay" is appropriate for the student population.

"We have finally arrived at an hour of accountability for our local school officials thanks to Speaker Renner. I am hopeful that we are now going to be able to take back our parental right to protect our children from the land mines of pornography filling our school libraries," Gebhard told Fox News Digital. "It’s been nearly a two year fight locally. This is a day where common sense seems to be overcoming the insanity of the far left- who think it’s important to keep a book with sex instruction, pedophilia and instructions for using a sex hookup app on middle school shelves."

The "rationale" for keeping the book in the media center at the middle school is that the "intended audience" falls within the age group present at Pierce Middle School.

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"The overall theme addresses serious concepts that support the LGBTQ+ teen community," the Educational Media Materials Committee stated in their report. "The concepts are presented in a manner that also demonstrates cautions and dangers about trends navigating adult resources, such as dating apps. Committee members pointed out that a resource such as this is better than word-of-mouth information shared by peers."

HCPS told Fox News Digital in a statement that the book in question is now in "stage 2" of the review process which is the review by the district committee.

"We respect the concerns of our elected officials and community members. Our district works to ensure we have age-appropriate content in our schools. Per state statute, staff is following our processes and procedures regarding objections to library media materials. The school’s Educational Media Materials Committee reviewed the book and upheld the decision to keep the book in the school’s library. We are now at Stage 2 of our process – the book is up for review with the district committee, and we will follow the integrity of our procedures. Based on policy, the superintendent does not have the ability to pull a book unilaterally without following district policies and procedures." Superintendent Addison Davis said. 

Julie Gebhards attended the specially called meeting, claiming the school district violated state laws due to the sex education curriculum.

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HCPS, located in Tampa, Florida presides over 206,841 students and 303 schools.

Renner’s letter comes after Fox News Digital previously reported on Tampa residents raising concern over a sex education curriculum at HCPS, claiming it violated state laws. Gebhards was involved among those parents who pushed back. HCPS upheld the sex education curriculum, siding with a former judge that determined that they did not violate any state laws.