Bill seeks to prevent ‘harmful’ material in schools

BY MARK PAYNE | LINK nky

The House Education committee passed a bill Monday that aims to prevent “harmful” material from being taught in schools, but opponents say the bill would lead to banning books.

Senate Bill 5 would create a mechanism for parents to file complaints against school material they find “harmful” or “obscene” — more specifically, material legislators say “sexualizes” young children.

“This is not just some parents that have different ideas out in our society, but this is absolutely sexualizing our children,” said Rep. Josh Calloway (R-Irvington), a House Education committee member who also introduced legislation this term that would address school material.

The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Jason Howell (R-Murray), said the bill addresses “obscenity” in school material, and this is the most granular approach to the subject so far.

The bill also seeks to define “obscene” by saying it refers to unclothed subjects that display genitalia or portray sexual acts. Further, the bill allows parents to file an appeal with the school district for what they consider to be inappropriate material.

Complaints would be submitted to principals, who would investigate the alleged incident. Within 10 days, the principal would determine if the material harms minors and decide what action to take.

“We’re really trying to drill down and have the children that are affected have the most influence in their particular district and have the principals in the school sys- tems in those districts have the most control over the issues that we’re dealing with,” Howell said.

Howell said the bill isn’t based on any current issues in the state, though the bill’s co-sponsor, Senate President Robert Stivers (R-Manchester), said he remembered an issue with a “twerking” teacher that even caused Gov. Andy Beshear to condemn the teacher’s actions.

In the last year, groups have emerged in Northern Kentucky advocating for the removal of certain books from public libraries and school curriculum.

A Moms For Liberty chapter has formed in Campbell and Boone counties. Moms For Liberty is a group that has gained traction in the last several years as calls for limiting student access to materials deemed sensitive or inappropriate have increased. Moms For Liberty groups tend to target works of fiction with racial themes, LGBTQ characters or issues, as well as descriptions of sexual acts.

In November, LINK nky obtained a list of works that the local chapters of Moms For Liberty would like removed from shelves or restrict who has access to them. The list has more than 150 books on it, and includes works like “Of Mice And Men,” “The Kite Runner,” “The Handmaid’s Tale,” as well as works by Toni Morrison, and young adult novelists John Green and Judy Blume. Twothirds of the books listed are only available at the high school level.

Last June, the Kenton County Public Library board voted to maintain its LGBTQ fiction display in the teen section after complaints surfaced about the Pride Month fixture.

In January of this year, Mirna Eads, Campbell County Mom’s for Liberty chairperson, expressed concern about books available to students on subjects she said were inappropriate. She was specifically concerned with “Scythe” by Neal Schusterman, which she said was “about teens learning to kill people they perceived as having no purpose in society.”

Others books Eads said she wanted off the shelves were about child rape, normalizing abortion and various sexually explicit content.

“We are not about banning books” but rather want selections to be less explicit, Eads said at the meeting. The group intends to submit reviews of books they deem inappropriate to local school officials.

Willner said the bill is based on culture wars across the United States and isn’t coming from anything local or in the state, and it’s putting kids in the middle of this battle.

“This seems to be part of a national conversation that has been divisive,” Willner said.

Kenton County resident Alex Berling testified to the committee that it’s appalling that while the state has a teacher shortage, instead of focusing on bills aimed at increasing teacher pay, the legislature is passing this bill that she says will increase the teaching load.

“I see this bill is nothing more than government overreach, especially from the party that used to claim that they hate big government,” Berling said.

Further, Berling said she sees the bill as a slippery slope toward other regimes that have banned books, such as Nazi Germany. “Books are designed to make you think as a parent and when thinking about the future generation in general,” Berling said. “I want them to have a great education, including having the tools to think for themselves.”

Fellow Northern Kentuckian Mirna Eads also testified during the committee. Eads, a former House District 68 candidate and the Campbell County Chapter chair for Mom’s for Liberty, said her group doesn’t ban books.

“Of the 22 books that I had challenged in my district, 20 have to do with the pornography statutes,” Eads said, elaborating that “porn” and “kids” shouldn’t be mentioned in the same sentence.

Smells like ‘lean’ spirit

events include Brandon Gardner, James Kight, Ron Wathen, Brandon Simpson, Eli Montgomery, Mike West, Sunny Gay, Lea Hennessy, Daniel Kuehl, Dakota Dunn, Josh Koenig, and Dooley Wright. Photo by Alecia Ricker | LINK nky

Bottles of booze donated to good cause

Throbbing muscles and spray-tanned bodies populated the Northern Kentucky Convention Center in Covington on March 11, as the city hosted an arm wrestling tournament and body building competition on the same day.

First place winners in the arm wrestling

The Easterseals Redwood’s fundraiser, Booze Breakfast and Express, aims to collect liquor bottles from local residents in order to raise money through future events. Easterseals Redwood is a nonprofit dedicated to helping people with disabilities, veterans and individuals facing economic challenges to break down barriers and achieve their potential.

The collection event kicked off at PeeWee’s Place on March 7, but liquor bottles will continue to be accepted throughout March at the Easterseals Redwood Welcome Center Lobby, located at 71 Orphanage Road in Fort Mitchell.

Florence Rotary to honor Boone County teachers

The Rotary Club of Florence will be celebrating the 2023 Teacher of the Year recipients at its March 27 luncheon at the Florence Nature Park Event Center.

This year’s recipients are Kim Forman of Yealey Elementary; Charity Ehrenberg of Ryle High School; Brittany Gilbreath of Stephens Elementary; and Julie Keyser of St. Paul School.