Lang
1/5/24
Banned books and teaching materials have been returned to classrooms in the Iowa City Community School District in response to a recent federal court ruling.
That’s according to an email sent out by district officials on Friday. In the email, superintendent Matt Degner says the district is pausing the removal of 68 books that were pulled from school libraries last October following the passage of a new state law that banned books depicting sex acts from school libraries. The new law also banned the teaching of LGBTQ+ topics for students in kindergarten through sixth grade. Degner says previously-planned materials covering those topics have also been re-implemented.
The law was challenged in two different lawsuits filed by education and civil rights activists. As a result, a Des Moines-based judge suspended most provisions of the law until the cases can be heard in court. One aspect left in place requires schools to notify parents if a child requests to be addressed by a preferred name or pronoun that conflicts with those listed with the district.