Southwest Florida school district places warning labels on over 100 books

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A southwest Florida school district placed warning labels on over 100 books that related to race or the LGBTQ community, deeming them "unsuitable for students."

Collier County Public Schools added an "advisory notice to parents" in capital letters both on physical copies of the books and the district’s online catalog. A sticker of the notice is on the front inside cover of the books, Yahoo News learned from a source.

"This Advisory Notice shall serve to inform you that this book has been identified by some community members as unsuitable for students. This book will also be identified in the Destiny system with the same notation. The decision whether this book is suitable or unsuitable shall be the decision of the parent(s) who has the right to oversee his/her child’s education consistent with state law," the label states.

The warning labels caused the Florida Freedom to Read Project, a group that advocates against censorship in Florida schools, to speak out. After filing a series of records requests, the Florida Freedom to Read project learned that the district started adding the labels in February based on a "Porn in Schools Report" issued by a conservative group called the Florida Citizens Alliance.

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The Florida Citizens Alliance included a list of books that "promote gender self-identification and same-sex marriage" as well as titles that include "indecent and offensive material."

The school district told a local news source that "the notices will help" and that "they’re just complying with the new Parent Rights in Education law and responding to parent and community concerns."

Heritage Foundation Senior Education Fellow Jonathan Butcher who specializes in this issue told Fox News Digital that ultimately it is the "teachers’ responsibility to decide what content is age-appropriate when they choose what to teach in class."

"Collier County has more elementary schools than they have middle and high schools, so educators should be conscious of what books are being made available in classrooms and school libraries and whether that material is suitable for young children, especially," Butcher said.

Butcher went on to say that "these labels can be seen as a way of partnering with parents when it comes to what children are exposed to—if a parent decides that they do not want their child to read explicit passages in a book, the label can warn them that such language is there."

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, R., signed into law in March a parental rights bill that bans teachers from giving classroom instruction on "sexual orientation" or "gender identity" in kindergarten through third grade.

"In Florida, we not only know that parents have a right to be involved, we insist that parents have a right to be involved," DeSantis said at a press conference at the Classical Preparatory School in Spring Hill, Florida.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis addresses a joint session of a legislative session, Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2022, in Tallahassee, Fla.  (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

The Parental Rights in Education bill, which passed the Republican-controlled state legislature, has been dubbed the "Don’t Say Gay" bill by Democrats and critics who claim it bans any discussion pertaining to being gay in Florida schools.

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Fox News' Jessica Chasmar contributed to this report.