ProTruthSC

The primary theme in the challenges today seems to be a focus on references to or depictions of sexual assault in books written for older students and adults. 19/

The former board member taught The Kite Runner himself: “it’s vital for [students] to be exposed to another culture.” 18/

A former school board member testifies in favor of retaining The Kite Runner. He praises the previous process of book reconsideration and specifically the requirements that reviewers read the whole book and understand the passages “in context”. 17/

She is again reading an out-of-context reference of sexual assault (though the reference does not contain explicit description). 16/

Szalai is now challenging The Kite Runner. 15/

So far, only two speakers, who originally challenged a total of 97 books in Beaufort Schools, have testified in favor of banning the books. 14/

A speaker defends the inclusion of The Bluest Eye in high school, saying teachers who choose it are helping their students learn to read “challenging” texts. 10/

Szalai is now challenging the book The Freedom Writer’s Diary. 13/

Courtney Thomas of @aclusc.bsky.social addresses the book Sold, on behalf of Beaufort residents. She says the book requires that the reader to infer that sex is being described. She says the State Board established a precedent that sex had to be described explicitly. 12/

Szalai again reads a graphic, out-of-context description of sexual assault, arguing the book currently being discussed should be banned from Beaufort schools. 11/

A speaker defends the inclusion of The Bluest Eye in high school, saying teachers who choose it are helping their students learn to read “challenging” texts. 10/

Another speaker who frequently speaks on behalf of book bans says parents who want their kids to read the challenged books should “buy them at Barnes and Noble”. We don’t believe children’s access to books should be restricted by their family’s finances. 9/

The board is allowing Beaufort residents to call in to speak on individual titles (currently, The Bluest Eye). 843-322-0733.

Szalai is reading sexually descriptive excerpts (in this case, some material is related a character’s feelings about sexual assault) she has described as violative of the regulation. She has said she hopes children present have their parents’ permission to hear it. 8/

The Board will either vote to restrict, retain, or remove each book challenged by Szalai. 7/

Same speaker: “I’m not sure why we’re here: these books have already been dealt with locally.” She calls it an “insult” to those who engaged with the original process. 6/

The current speaker, the SIC chair at her daughter’s school, participated on Beaufort’s review commiteee. She praises that process and said she read every book. 5/

The first book Szalai is speaking against is Toni Morrison’s acclaimed novel The Bluest Eye. 4/

The third speaker says “we came together as a community” to carefully consider the books the first time. 3/

The first speaker calls on the Board to respect the process it originally used when it considered the books. The second is Ivey Szalai, who acknowledges she no longer has children in the district, and that she will be reading “inappropriate” content in the public meeting.

YouTube video by BCTV Beaufort County Board of Education Work Session 8:30AM

The State Board of Education has called on Beaufort Schools to reconsider book challenges it previously considered. The Board is hearing public comment now. m.youtube.com/watch?v=xq6E...

An author responds: Why is sex so scary to book banners? • SC Daily Gazette Commentary from Malinda Lo, the author of one of the books the State Board of Education ruled must be pulled from K-12 library shelves.

My National Book Award-winning novel Last Night at the Telegraph Club was banned statewide in South Carolina because it includes descriptions of "sexual conduct." Why are book banners so scared of sex? I wrote about this in the @scdailygazette.com today.

scdailygazette.com/2025/05/08/w...

I was really hoping SC would rethink its horrible book banning law but they did not. Today, Last Night at the Telegraph Club joins 9 more books that are banned statewide in South Carolina, making SC the #1 state in statewide bans, with 21 titles banned overall. This is a travesty and a tragedy.

NEW: With a State Board of Education vote to remove 10 more books from all K-12 public schools today, South Carolina now leads the nation in state-mandated book bans. www.aclusc.org/en/press-rel...

South Carolina Becomes the Nation's Top Book Banner The State Board of Education bans an additional ten books from all public schools.

South Carolina becomes the nation’s top book banner.

While we were waiting, we spent some time in the lobby reading banned books with our friends from @protruthsc.bsky.social, @midlandsapple.bsky.social, Families Against Book Bans, and Liberation Is Lit 📖

The SC Board of Education is about to come out of over 2 hours in executive session. Presumably they were discussing or receiving legal advice about 43-170, the book ban regulation. Live stream will be here: ed.sc.gov/state-board/...

The State Board of Education meets today, starting with a 9 am committee meeting. Will board members revisit their book banning rule Regulation 43-170, which has led to the removal or restriction of 12 books from all schools so far? Updates in this thread. ed.sc.gov/state-board/...

Education Department stops $1 billion in funding for school mental health Congress created the grants in the aftermath of the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. The goal was to help schools hire mental health professionals, including counselors and social workers.

Congress created the grants in the aftermath of the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. The goal was to help schools hire mental health professionals, including counselors and social workers.

Graphic contains a slightly more wordy version to the post text. From Freedom to Read SC.

Our SC Board of Education will have an executive session Tues, May 6 to discuss the book ban regulation. Please email your Board rep before that date to urge them to amend the regulation to align with existing state obscenity laws. Email addresses can be found here: docs.google.com/document/d/1...