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US Department of Education says Forsyth County schools no longer have to act on book bans

Number of books being challenged, banned in schools, libraries is growing Number of books being challenged, banned in schools, libraries is growing

FORSYTH COUNTY, GA — The US Department of Education says Forsyth County schools no longer have to act on book bans from the Office of Civil Rights and has dismissed eleven federal book ban complaints.

A civil rights case came out of a ban of eight books from Forsyth County schools.

Superintendent Mitch Young said some adjustments had already been made in the processing of reviewing books for school media centers, but the case remained in the office of civil rights.

The county was told by the office of civil rights that its banning of certain books may have created a hostile environment. Some parents felt civil rights were violated after the county’s initial ban before the system fine-tuned its review process.

Now, the department of education says the Office of Civil Rights should have no role in the matter.

“When you see that it has been totally dismissed, there is some level of validation that you get from that. We didn’t think it was merit based to begin with,” Young said.

The superintendent said they have a good review process in place now to decide what books belong in school libraries.

“Parents can actually choose each school year as to whether or not get an electronic notification when their child checks a book out. So, they are aware of what their child is checking out and they can have a family conversation.”

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