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STATEWIDE CALL TO ACTION

 

We are asking for the following changes before the

FLDOE approves the Media Specialist Training:

Send your email to:

CC:

Watch Full FLDOE Library Media Workgroup Meeting 

A Sample Letter to the FLDOE

 

Good afternoon Commissioner Diaz,

 

First, thank you and the FLDOE for creating a parent workgroup that includes representation from all community viewpoints.  For far too long, parents and community members with perspectives running counter to the establishment within the public school system have been shut out of these discussions. Your efforts to include parents and all community stakeholders in this process are very much appreciated and go a long way toward reestablishing trust among community stakeholders and our public school system. I hope you will consider doing the same at the district level as conservative parents continue to be shut out of most of the committees there as well.  

 

I am writing you regarding the Media Center Training that the workgroup is in the process of laying out. I know that you will vote on the proposed training soon and I would like to ask that you ensure the following changes are made to the training before it is approved by the FLDOE. 

 

 

WE ARE ASKING FOR THE FOLLOWING CHANGES BEFORE THE FLDOE APPROVES THE MEDIA SPECIALIST TRAINING:

 

1. Define The Terms: Pornographic materials, harmful materials, controversial materials, and obscenity must be defined in legal terms to put an end to the runaround many parents and community stakeholders are put through at the district level. If these terms are not clearly defined at the state level, each district will continue to spend precious financial and human capital resources attempting to do so on a case-by-case basis - it would defeat the whole purpose of the districts hiring a media specialist (as they intend to do in Sarasota County) and conducting this training.   

 

A Common Sense Solution would be for media specialists to use parameters AT LEAST as strong as the porn filters and keywords used for the adults at the FLDOE when deciding if a book includes pornographic materials. (See attached letter from the FLDOE workgroup leader). If the FLDOE can define the parameters for an email pornography filter for adults, they should do AT LEAST the same for the children in our public schools. 

 

2. Place Sensitive Materials Behind The Counter. Any materials containing pornographic or sensitive materials that are chosen by the media specialist for inclusion in the school library due to “serious literary value” must be personally approved, with signature, by the principal and superintendent and posted on a public list on the district website. Community stakeholders need to be able to hold decision-makers accountable for the content they decide to make available in our school libraries. 

 

3. Provide A Parent Opt-In. Books deemed “sensitive” in nature will be stored in a separate location within the library, inaccessible to students without parental permission. If a parent would like to give their minor child access to books and supplemental materials containing sensitive content, they must physically sign the materials out from the media center to avoid unauthorized access to the content through students sharing the content with their peers while at school. 

 

Thank you again for all that you are doing at the FLDOE in support of parental rights. We are looking forward to working with you and are happy to assist in any way that we can. 

 

 

In Liberty,


(Your Name) 
(Your County)