Spotlight Districts

The Arrowhead Union School Board passed a policy in October 2022 requiring parental consent for students to change their names or pronouns. During a board meeting in March 2023, community members called for the repeal of policies related to pronoun usage, nondiscrimination, bullying, and mistreatment of transgender students.

In July 2023, the school board implemented a ban on displaying signs deemed “divisive,” including pride flags. The school board proceeded to eliminate “safe space” stickers, despite opposition from over 300 students who signed a petition against the ban, opting to draft a new policy.

The board prohibited the teaching of critical race theory through a policy passed in March 2022.

When the five candidates that ran for Bartow County School Board’s two open seats in the 2022 election — all Republicans — were asked about their stances, all five opposed critical race theory and education on LGBTQ issues. In May of 2022, Derek Keeney, a long-time representative on the Bartow County School Board, said that CRT and LGBTQ curricula was “inappropriate” and had “no redeeming value for our children.” In 2021, Keeney attended a ‘Save America Freedom Tour Rally,’ a conservative event in Bartow. Keeney attended the event alongside the National Alliance’s “activist of the year,” Michael Weaver. The National Alliance was named “the most dominant and dangerous hate group in America” by the Southern Poverty Law Center at the time. In 2021, Keeney also said he supported putting cameras in public school classrooms to monitor teachers. Another board member, Terry Lee Eggert, created controversy in the county when he said in 2020 that protesters should be “handled with real ammo.” Back in 2010, Bartow County School Board Member Matt Shultz, made a statement that he didn’t want gay people serving in the military.

In March of 2023, the Brandywine School Board voted to suspend “the addition of any sexually explicit” books from entering middle school and high school libraries in the county. In June 2023, the board then voted to create an “explicit material book review committee” in order to evaluate existing library books. The board proceeded to pull 30 books from school library shelves. During a school board meeting debating the book bans, the school board played a ten minute video entitled, “The Porn Pandemic,” to demonstrate the dangers of pornography. The video was produced by Family Watch International, an anti-LGBTQ Fundamentalist Christian lobbying group that opposes sex education, gay rights, and birth control.

We The Parents, a 1776-backed parental rights group, supported four Brandywine County School Board candidates in 2022, flipping the board to a conservative majority. A campaign video posted to the We The Parents Facebook page, showed then-candidate for Brandywine School Board, Thomas Payne, discussing how Critical Race Theory is “garbage,” and how students are “being told they are the oppressor if they’re a different skin color than the oppressed.”

Both prior to and following the election of Broward County School Board member Brenda Fam, who attended a “Protect the Children” rally and welcomed support from Proud Boys, the Broward County School Board acted to advance anti-LGBTQ and book banning policies in schools. In October 2022, Broward County school libraries removed or restricted eleven books identified by Moms for Liberty as including “sexually explicit” or LGBTQ content. While reporting in November 2022 indicated that the district’s Chief Academic Officer may have removed the books without the input of the school board, journalist Judd Legum noted that the district had not reshelved any of the books as of August 2023. Further, in March 2023, the Board considered pulling chapters related to LGBTQ topics and birth control from sex education textbooks. The policy remained “under development” as of September 2023.

The school district has consistently shown a willingness to put “parental rights” over the rights of students. In January 2022, in response to a planned student protest over COVID-19 policies, the Broward County School Board issued “a series of warnings to the students and threatened them with retaliation,” leading the students to cancel the protest. Meanwhile, the district published a Parents’ Bill of Rights to their website.

In a 2014 incident, the board initially voted to remove “The Color Purple” due to its explicit content, at the request of Brunswick County Commissioner Pat Sykes, who called the book “filthy” and “immoral.” The board later reinstated the book, saying that they had been confused by the original proceedings. Then in September 2021, the school district amended its policy to explicitly ban CRT as an unapproved “social theory,” aiming to prevent “opinion or conjecture” in education. In the 2022 election, Steve Gainey, an anti-CRT candidate, secured a seat on the Brunswick County Board of Education, vowing to oppose liberal educational trends.

Recently, the Brunswick Board of Education demonstrated its stance on parental rights by approving a letter of support for the “North Carolina Parents’ Bill of Rights.” The bill faced criticism for its policies regarding names, pronouns, and restrictions on certain topics in the curriculum. Additionally, in 2023, the board enacted a policy requiring school staff to notify parents when a student changes their name or pronoun, aligning with the Parents’ Bill of Rights.

In May 2021, the Cherokee County School Board unanimously voted to ban Critical Race Theory and the 1619 Project. One month later, a newly-hired Cherokee County diversity administrator withdrew her acceptance of the role after community members on social media claimed she was “hired to implement Critical Race Theory.” Before the 2022 Cherokee County School Board election, the 1776 Project PAC circulated mailers supporting anti-CRT candidates, “intending to take over the already GOP-dominated Board.” In the same year, parents lobbied the Cherokee County School Board for removal of over 200 titles from public libraries.

Longtime Cherokee County BOE Member, Rick Steiner, was banned in 2023 from WrestleCon after making transphobic comments. Steiner called a trans wrestler a “piece of filth.” Steiner remains on the Cherokee County School Board.

In June of 2021, the Cobb County School Board voted to approve a resolution to “not implement” critical race theory or use the 1619 Project. The resolution was brought forward by then-Chair, Randy Scamihorn, due to Governor Brian Kemp publicly condemning CRT. Scamihorn also supported the Georgia High School Association’s Transgender Athlete Ban. In August 2023, the Cobb County School Board voted along party lines to fire a teacher who read a book on “gender fluidity” to her 5th grade class.

In 2022, Board Chair David Chastain argued Critical Race Theory was the “reversal of attitudes that drove the Civil Rights Movement.” Chastain also doubled down on the transgender athlete ban, comparing the exclusion to three-strikes laws, saying, “that is going to be one of the risks, or let’s call it one of the costs, of choosing to be transgender. […] We make certain choices that may exclude us from opportunities in the future. For example, you commit three felonies, there are certain employers that…aren’t going to hire you because of a felony.”

Since 2021, The Collier County School Board took several actions aligned with the anti-CRT, anti-LGBTQ, and book banning movements. In 2021, the Board adopted an official policy banning critical race theory in classrooms, and in April 2022, the Board failed to adopt new math textbooks because of what they called references to “Social Emotional Learning and Critical Race Theory.” In August 2022, the school district “added warning labels to more than 100 books, many of which touch on issues related to race or the LGBTQ community.”

In 2022, the conservative slate for school board won a “clean sweep” and the victorious candidates pledged to advance additional anti-CRT and anti-LGBTQ policies. Newly elected Board Member Jerry Rutherford, known for protesting drag shows and a local LGBTQ Pride festival, said in 2022 that “He’d like to see fewer ‘rights’ for LGBTQ students.” Rutherford, who won with a Florida Citizen’s Alliance endorsement, also advocated for corporal punishment in schools, including for disabled students, who he claimed were “out of control.” Fellow member Tim Moshier won with a Moms for Liberty endorsement and member Kelly Richter won with a Florida Citizen’s Alliance endorsement.

Fellow member Tim Moshier won with a Moms for Liberty endorsement and member Kelly Richter won with a Florida Citizen’s Alliance endorsement.

Soon after extremist parents rights group Moms For Liberty claimed to have “flipped” the Duval County School Board in 2022 to a “parental rights supportive majorit[y],” the school board pulled 176 books for review that were “written from diverse perspectives” due to mentions of racism. Then, in 2023, the School Board launched a review of all 1.6 million titles in public schools within Duval County.

In April 2023, the Duval County School Board passed a trans-exclusionary policy, banning transgender students from using restrooms or locker rooms that correspond with their gender identity. The policy states that: “Restrooms and lockers must be separated by sex assigned at birth in Duval County Public Schools — a reversal of the district’s previous guidance.”

After the school board flip in 2022, Moms for Liberty has continued to advocate for parents rights within the county, and even advised Governor Desantis on crafting a “list of school board seats to flip in 2024 including two in Duval County.” The Duval County School Board is directly influenced by Moms for Liberty, as school board member April Carney held “concurrent roles in the groups Moms for Liberty and Florida Conservative Coalition of School Board Members.”

Following the 2022 election of two school board members (Dawn Densmore and Jennifer Drake) linked with the parents rights group Purple for Parents – deemed a “hate group” by Northern Indiana Atheists – Arizona’s Dysart USD 89 School Board firmly established their alignment with the anti-CRT and anti-LGBTQ school board movements. In April 2023, the District chose to expand their partnership with Arizona Christian University in spite of public controversy over the school’s inclusion of anti-LGBTQ principles in their student handbook. In the same month, the district banned teachers from attending conference sessions “on critical race theory or social and emotional learning.” The policy required teachers to sign an acknowledgement and instructed supervisors to review conference agendas.

Of the 1,100 recorded book complaints levied in Florida since July 2022, over 700 came from Escambia and Clay Counties. The Escambia County School Board has restricted over 100 books since 2022 due to “sexual content”, and has banned at least ten titles because of homosexual or gender identity related material, including And Tango Makes Three, due to its depiction of a same-sex penguin couple. In June of 2023, the Escambia County School Board adopted a new rule on an emergency basis that requires the restriction of reading material that “depicts or describes sexual content” in classroom libraries. Escambia County has repeatedly overruled the district’s own media specialists, which has led to a lawsuit filed by PEN America and Penguin Random House.

The Escambia County School Board’s anti-LGBTQ policies extend past book banning, as the Board amended the Elementary and Secondary School Student Code of Conduct Handbooks to reflect state bathroom restrictions based on “sex.” This new amendment would punish transgender students that use a bathroom in accordance to their gender identity.

Since 2022, The Flagler County School Board has been influenced by multiple extremist groups. At least three candidates who ran for school board in 2022 received endorsements from 1776 Project, and one incumbent candidate, Jill Woolbright, received campaign contributions from Moms for Liberty in 2022. In 2023, the Flagler County School Board then removed three books from all shelves in the county, one of which Moms for Liberty challenged. Later, in the Spring of 2023, Flagler Palm Coast High School removed two challenged books from shelves without a review of the material. As recently as August 2023, Flagler County High Schools even eliminated AP Psychology, citing Florida Department of Education’s guidelines. The district gave parents the option to “opt-out” their children from books in the library, with the option to stipulate exactly which books their students can check out.

Board member Will Furry, endorsed by Ron Desantis, said in his campaign that Desantis’ ‘Parental Rights in Education Bill’ didn’t go far enough, and claimed CRT stemmed from “Marxist ideology.” Member Christy Chong, who was also endorsed by Desantis during her campaign, supported the Governor’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill and referred to banned books as “porn.”

In 2023, a Flagler County elementary school, Bunnell Elementary, was met with outrage from the country when Black students were singled out and pulled into an assembly due to “underperforming on standardized tests.” Parents reported that the children, 4th and 5th graders, were told they would end up “dead or in jail” if they did not perform well.

In 2023, Forsyth County Schools removed eight books, but allowed seven of them to return after consideration. All Boys Aren’t Blue, a memoir about a gay Black man, remained banned. In May of 2023, the U.S. Department of Education found that the Forsyth County School Board’s book removals “may have created a hostile environment that violated federal laws.”

In 2022, now-Board Member Mike Valdes said he sought to remove “pornography” and books with “racist views against white people” from the county’s schools. Valdes has also since made a “pledge to continue to fight against CRT.” Another BOE member, Wes McCall, supported Governor Brian Kemp’s signing of a law that banned books in Georgia schools. McCall stated in 2022 that he intended to continue working to keep critical race theory out of classrooms.

In July 2023, the Francis Howell School District Board revoked an anti-racism resolution that had been in place. The resolution faced scrutiny from some board members and parents who labeled it as “woke activism.”

Ron Harmon, a school board member, campaigned on removing “CRT-laced curriculum” from the district. Another member, Adam Bertrand, not only opposed CRT but also voiced his opposition to the inclusion of Black History and Black Literature classes, claiming they conveyed certain CRT tenets. Furthermore, past tweets from Adam Bertrand surfaced, indicating discriminatory views towards minority communities. Jane Puszkar, a board member, went on record opposing “CRT, gender indoctrination, and sexualization of children.” In a video shared on Reddit, she made claims denying the existence of transgender and nonbinary individuals. There were also instances of book bans within the district, spurred by a state law banning sexually explicit materials in schools.

Amidst these controversies, the Francis Howell Families group, known for opposing CRT and advocating for parental rights, wielded influence. They supported candidates for the school board who shared their views against CRT, gender indoctrination, and the “sexualization” of children.

In June 2023, it was reported that FISD had instituted the highest number of book bans in Texas, totaling 315 titles, in accordance with Governor Abbott’s Restricting Explicit and Adult-Designated Educational Resources Act (READER Act). This act faced criticism from the ACLU for potentially suppressing LGBTQIA+, Black, and Brown experiences in school materials. Additionally, State Rep. Jared Patterson formally challenged 28 books, resulting in the removal of at least five titles from FISD shelves, and claimed that Frisco ISD was not doing enough to “keep sexual books away from students.”

Board Trustee Marvin Lowe expressed discomfort with transgender students using restrooms according to their gender identity and made derogatory remarks about transgender individuals at an educational conference, where he reportedly had to be escorted out of the room. FISD was subject to seven complaints to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) in 2022, including complaints filed by the ACLU after the district passed a policy which required students to use bathrooms that matched their sex assigned at birth.

Lowe, along with fellow board member Stephanie Elad, gained endorsement from the 1776 Project. At least one Frisco ISD School Board candidate in 2023, Evelyn Lorie-Ann Beauman-Brooks of District 14, ran on a platform of transphobia, anti-vaxx and anti-CRT rhetoric.

[Austin American-Statesman, 6/12/23; Houston Chronicle, 4/25/23; The Dallas Morning News, 2/26/23; Dallas Observer, 5/24/23; Texas Observer, 1/19/23]

In June 2023, the Hanover County Public Schools board approved a contentious new library materials policy that gave the board sole discretion on banning books. This move resulted in the prompt removal of 19 books from Hanover schools, including titles by John Green and Toni Morrison.

In 2022, the school board approved a policy, in collaboration with the SPLC-designated hate group Alliance Defending Freedom, requiring trans students to request access to restrooms aligning with their gender identity. The process involves submitting personal and medical information for approval. The board also disbanded the Community Equity Advisory Board, intended to provide recommendations on equitable practices and community engagement.

The NAACP called for the removal of board member Johnny Redd, citing Redd’s opposition to school name changes and derogatory comments towards the NAACP president.

In 2022, the district put employees on leave following an after-school drag show organized by the Gay Sexuality Alliance Club in a high school. Later in the year, the district was the first to implement “Policy 123,” a ban on trans students competing in athletics aligning with their gender identity. This policy, drafted with the help of the Independence Law Center — associated with designated hate group Alliance Defending Freedom — faced backlash for being discriminatory. The School Board President described Policy 123 as a “fairness in women’s athletics” policy rather than an “anti-transgender” policy. A principal was demoted for supporting trans students in their athletics choices, and three employees were put on leave for allowing an LGBTQ club to hold a drag show after school, both in violation of Policy 123. In another instance, the district temporarily closed middle school locker rooms after a transgender male student requested to change in the boys’ locker room.

The school district made it easier for parents to challenge books and implemented policies banning materials with sexual content, a move supported by the local chapter of Moms For Liberty. The district approved “Policy 108.1,” which requires parents receive annual notifications on how to review and challenge lesson materials they consider inappropriate.

The Independence School Board’s book removal policy attracted attention for granting significant influence to parents and students. If a parent or student object to a book’s content related to sex, sexuality, or race was objected to, it could be immediately removed from the curriculum or library. In 2022, the board made headlines when they voted to ban the book Cats vs. Robots Volume 1: This Is War, citing objectionable content related to a nonbinary character.

The school district put in place policy requiring parental consent for teachers to use students’ preferred pronouns and removing students’ ability to display their pronouns on virtual platforms. And in 2021, during a school board meeting, an incident occurred where a mother derogatorily labeled a teacher as a “pedophile” for initiating a Gender and Sexuality Club. The School Board President, Denise Fears, did not “correct her or react” at all.

Further, the district’s policy on political speech led to the removal of a Black Lives Matter poster from a district middle school.

Katy Independent School District ranked fourth in Texas for the most number of books banned — and considered removal of children’s biographies of Michelle Obama and Black Olympian Wilma Rudolph.

The district required bathrooms and locker rooms to be segregated by biological sex, and mandated pronouns used for all people on campus to match biological sex, with a member of the board claiming the policies were “protecting children.” Meanwhile, the district blocked student access to websites on LGBTQ issues, including of the LGBTQ suicide prevention nonprofit The Trevor Project.

The board — at least three of whom are endorsed by Texans for Educational Freedom, which claims children are subjected to “radical indoctrination” — voted 4-3 to force teachers to “out” transgender students to their parents.

In February 2023, a policy amendment proposing restrictions on displaying flags, especially LGBTQ+ pride flags, in classrooms narrowly failed in a 3-2 vote. Board member Micah Valentine further argued against comprehensive sex education, calling such education “dangerous” and saying it would turn children into “sexual predators.”

The Board also passed an anti-CRT policy in August 2022, unanimously emphasizing that students should not be “indoctrinated into the belief that the U.S. is fundamentally or systemically racist.” Valentine and fellow board member Gabe Galbraith opposed CRT, with Galbraith arguing the theory was “hateful and divisive.” Earlier that year, the Kennewick District 17 School Board began reviewing books in their libraries following “community complaints” regarding several books.

Furthermore, Valentine advocated for the influence of Christianity in education, suggesting that children need “a testimony in Christ” to succeed and commenting that God “put women in charge” of children.

In 2021, the Mars Area School Board unanimously implemented a ban on teaching Critical Race Theory (CRT) and introduced a “patriotism” amendment to the district’s mission statement. This amendment mandated the display of the American flag in all district buildings and classrooms, aiming to prevent the teaching of concepts that might cause “guilt or anguish based on race, sex, or religion,” and asserted the district’s commitment to avoid “indoctrination” in a specific social or political ideology or theory.

In 2023, the school district, along with two other districts, filed a lawsuit to challenge education guidelines incorporating ‘Culturally Relevant and Sustaining Education (CRSE).’ This legal action argued that several CRSE guidelines were constitutionally vague and lacked measurable objectivity. The CRSE guidelines encouraged teachers to engage in challenging conversations regarding conscious and unconscious biases, microaggressions, and societal power structures. The term “microaggressions” was defined as subtle expressions of prejudiced attitudes toward marginalized groups, fostering awareness and education around these issues.

Multiple current Miami-Dade County School Board members have focused on passing anti-LGBTQ, anti-Black, and pro-book banning policies in their role as board members. School Board member Monica Colucci accepted an endorsement from the extremist group 1776 Project PAC in her run for the office, and joined Governor Desantis on an education agenda tour to “defend parental rights.” Board Member Roberto Alonso ran for office on the platform of “protecting female athletes” and once elected, attempted to ban LGBTQ+ flags in the classroom. In 2022, the Miami-Dade School Board voted against recognizing LGBTQ History Month. Alonso also pushed for a ban on Black Lives Matter flags in public schools, but the measure was not passed. In 2023, the Miami-Dade School Board added a “Parents Bill Of Rights” allowing students to be withdrawn from “any instruction regarding sexuality.” The board faced national backlash for their book challenge policy, after a school restricted access to Amanda Gorman’s 2021 presidential inauguration poem.

In 2023, the Milford County School Board engaged in discussions regarding bathroom access for transgender students. Board member Nathaniel Wheeler proposed requiring students to use bathrooms aligned with their sex assigned at birth. Ultimately, the board retained its policies, allowing students to choose bathrooms corresponding to their gender identity, but “compromised” by removing urinals from men’s bathrooms. Wheeler homeschools his own children.

In another move, the board passed a measure enabling parents to request the removal of specific books and instructional material from the educational curriculum.

The North East Independent School Board indefinitely paused Human Sexuality and Abstinence Education (HSAE), citing an effort to “ensure that any Human Sexuality and Abstinence Education curriculum we use is current, aligned to the new state standards” and could also be “reviewed by parents at public meetings.” In 2022, NEISD topped a Houston Chronicle list for banning or reviewing the most books, with 119 books banned and 431 reviewed for appropriateness. The school district revealed that the School Health Advisory Committee, responsible for reviewing sex education materials, employed a filtering tool associated with anti-LGBTQ hate group Family Watch International.

School Board Members Diane Sciba Villarreal and Marsha Landry received endorsements from Parents United for Freedom, an organization striving to “defend and protect parental rights” while “reclaiming” schools from what they perceive as harmful agendas. Landry faced serious allegations of mistreatment towards her stepson, including physical abuse, withholding food, and calling him “her slave.”

In May of 2021, the Palm Beach County School Board removed their “Commitment to Dismantling Structures Rooted in White Advantage” from their equity statement after parents claimed it was CRT-based. After the board voted to remove the commitment, leaders of the Palm Beach County Democratic Party voted to censure the school board members due to the removal “running counter to our Democratic values,” prompting board members Frank Barbieri and Barbara McQuinn to leave the Democratic Party.

In 2023, the Palm Beach County banned more than a dozen books that discussed race and LGBTQ content, and also voted to pass a ‘Don’t Say Gay’ measure. As recently as August 2023, race has remained a contentious issue in the county, as the Palm Beach County School Board suspended a teacher for 10 days after they said the N-word in front of students, which critics said is not strict enough of a punishment.

Multiple candidates for the Pasco County School Board, and one current board member, have cited parental rights as reasoning behind their candidacy. School board member Al Hernandez, for example, was endorsed by Moms for Liberty and defeated a teacher to win an open seat in 2022. Clyde Smith II was also inspired by parents rights rhetoric and said he decided to run for School Board in 2024 because of Governor Desantis. Pasco Watch, a conservative educational watchdog group with “values based on the Constitution,” also endorsed two candidates in 2022.

In 2023, Pasco County Schools advocated for parental rights on its official webpage, and offered online parental controls on what students could check out of the library. Also in 2023, the Pasco County Schools superintendent imposed bathroom restrictions for transgender students.

The Roanoke County School Board implemented a restrictive book review policy — opposed by the district’s head librarian — requiring librarians to vet books before approval and allowing parents a two-week review period before the books reach the shelves.

The district has had a string of contentious public meetings, mostly surrounding policies regarding sexuality and LGBTQ+ issues, in the past couple years. In April 2022, the district removed questions about sexual behaviors from a risk assessment survey after “some board members raise concerns” about appropriateness. Board member Brent Hudson reportedly was concerned there would be questions about being transgender on the surveys. At a board meeting in March 2023, a transgender student and her mother described her experience of bullying and depression, and “not one board member acknowledged” their comments and “they barely met her eyes.” The board faced criticism during a May 2023 board meeting for alleged suppression of LGBTQ+ symbols and stories within schools, after a parent spread word on Facebook that teachers were told they could not display rainbows in their classroom or on their clothing. The school system spokesman Chuck Lionberger admitted “17% of the school’s full-time staff” resigned after the meeting. During a heated meeting in June 2023, a parent accused educators of being sexual predators, prompting the chairman to shout “Parents’ rights,” a phrase dubbed a “rallying cry” of Moms for Liberty. In July 2023, the board passed policies affecting transgender students, requiring parental permission for name and pronoun use and determining sports participation by sex at birth; the public debate over the policies led to two arrests.

In her personal capacity, board member Cheryl Facciani retweeted a post calling the Black Lives Matter movement “Marxist” and argued the movement sought to “dismantle the family.”

After a right-wing sweep “flipped” the Sarasota County School Board to a conservative majority in 2022, the board voted to fire Superintendent Brennan Aspen abruptly despite hours of public comment. In 2023, after openly-gay board member Tom Edwards was subjected to homophobic remarks from two school board meetings’ audiences accusing him of grooming children, none of the board members intervened or commented, and Edwards walked out of the second meeting. The Sarasota County School Board also released a math evaluation plan in 2023, to screen for “critical race theory, social justice, and culturally responsive teaching.” The board allegedly was considering abolishing the Department of Innovation and Equity, which sought to “increase the recruitment of diverse staff.”

In 2022, the 1776 Project PAC endorsed three candidates for the Sarasota County School Board, which created the current conservative majority on the board. Board Chair Bridget Ziegler is a Moms for Liberty co-founder, and helped form the framework of the state’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill.