St. Francis schools sued over controversial book ban policy as students stage walkout

As high schoolers staged a walkout Monday, parents filed suit against St. Francis Area Schools alleging the district unlawfully banned dozens of books based on the ideas they contained and the ratings of an anonymous website that recently went dark.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of eight students by Education Minnesota-St. Francis in Anoka County District Court on Monday. All the students' parents are teachers. It was followed by a similar lawsuit on behalf of two parents of other students filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Minnesota.

Last fall, the northwestern Anoka County school district voted to update its library materials policy to primarily use ratings from the anonymous reviewer website BookLooks.org, which sought to warn parents of "objectionable content" in books.

BookLooks is associated with a former member of the influential conservative parental rights group Moms for Liberty.

As of Sunday, BookLooks said it was ceasing operation, according to a message posted on the site. All book reports have been removed from the site.

"After much prayer and reflection it has become apparent that His work for us here is complete and that He has other callings for us," the BookLooks post said.

It was not immediately clear whether the reports were removed due to potential litigation or if they will move elsewhere.

The use of BookLooks was scheduled to be discussed in a district policy committee meeting on Monday night ahead of the St. Francis school board meeting. However, District Superintendent Karsten Anderson announced at the start of the committee meeting that the discussions were tabled because of the lawsuits.

St. Francis Area Schools said in a statement Monday that its legal team was reviewing both lawsuits.

"The district is committed to addressing the claims identified in the lawsuits thoroughly and appropriately," Board Chair Nathan Burr said in a statement.

Despite cancellation of Monday's anticipated discussion, students and parents still gathered outside the district office to speak out against the removal of books from library shelves and classroom discourse.

"These books, which are part of our curriculum in the high school, and in classes that I myself am taking, are being taken away from us this week as we speak," said student Rowan Anderson. "This is causing an extreme detrimental effect to our education, and the tension is palpable within the high school itself."

The district's policy reflected BookLooks ratings. On a scale of 0 to 5, books rated 3 or above on BookLooks — indicating "parental guidance required" — cannot be purchased or donated for school or classroom libraries. Those ratings are also used to determine whether to keep a book in the library if it is challenged by a parent or community member.

The lawsuit filed on behalf of the eight students asks the judge to declare the school's policy illegal and to reverse the ban on dozens of bestselling books like "The Kite Runner" and "The Bluest Eye."

The district's policy "is antithetical to the values of public education and encouraging discourse. Perhaps more importantly, the policy violates the Minnesota Constitution and state law," according to the suit.

Academically, students who don't have access to these titles to prepare for Advanced Placement exams will be at a disadvantage, the suit read.

The ACLU lawsuit filed Monday afternoon said at least 46 books have been removed or are in the process of being removed from shelves in the school district.

"The St. Francis School Board fails its students by abandoning its duty to oversee the education of young people in service of a partisan, political orthodoxy," said ACLU-MN Staff Attorney Catherine Ahlin-Halverson, in a statement. "The freedom to read is fundamental to our democracy, and the ACLU of Minnesota stands with St. Francis students demanding that their school board stop violating their constitutional right to access information."

Nonprofit PEN America has called the school district's policy one of the worst school-based book ban policies in the United States.

At the end of fifth hour at St. Francis High School on Monday, about 125 students left the building and sat in circles near the front entrance to read books including "Night" by Elie Wiesel, "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood, "A Child Called It" by Dave Pelzer and "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini.

Hosseini told the Minnesota Star Tribune last week that he was dismayed to see his book and others pulled as result of ratings from a website without transparency about its contributors.

"When I hear 'The Kite Runner' is harmful to students and they need to be protected from it, it's bewildering, because the response from the students themselves and the teachers is overwhelmingly enthusiastic and positive," Hosseini said then.

A small group of community members stood in the high school parking lot in support of the students. Barb Anderson, who had two children graduate from the district, held a sign: "Give Teachers Their Books Back!"

She commended the students for supporting one another: "I thank them for saving the community," she said.

Anderson said she hopes the school board follows the group's example and sets aside partisan differences.

"When people voted in the election, there was no 'R' or 'D' by[school board candidates'] names," she said. "You're supposed to follow the mission of the district."