The State Department of Education is advancing a set of rules that give schools and teachers some clarification on plans to enforce a wide-ranging law (SF 496) that includes a ban on books with sexually graphic content as well as restrictions on gender-affirming policies for transgender students.
The law says books and school materials must be “age-appropriate,” which means they may not show or describe a sex act as defined in detail in Iowa code. School districts have expressed confusion about where state investigators will draw the line in determining which books violate that definition.
Rules proposed by the Iowa Department of Education say a book that mentions or references a sex act, but does not go on to show it or describe it, does not violate the law.
The additional details come as enforcement of the law is set to take effect in January.
The IDOE is in charge of investigating claims that a school district or teacher has provided a book that violates the rule. After one violation, the department will issue a written warning. After two or more violations, the case will be referred to the board that certifies Iowa teachers and school administrators, the Board of Education Examiners, for possible disciplinary action.
However, IDOE general counsel Thomas Mayes told the State Board of Education Wednesday the rules also give the department discretion to end an investigation when a district acts in response to a complaint before a determination is reached.
“If a district voluntarily comes into alignment, and permanently comes into alignment, there’s really no need for a citation. The problem’s been solved,” Mayes said.
The rules will only apply to books and curriculum under a district’s control, Mayes said. A shared library administered by a local town or city is not governed by the law. Neither are books or curriculum offered through community colleges, which Mayes said must follow a different set of accreditation rules.
When a school uses one library to serve a range of grades, the rule states there must be “reasonable physical, administrative and technological controls” in place to ensure that students only have access to books for children their age.
K-6 ban on LGBTQ topics
In another section, the law bans providing “any program, curriculum, test, survey, questionnaire, promotion or instruction relating to gender identity or sexual orientation” in kindergarten through sixth grade.
The proposed rules advanced by the State Board of Education state that a “neutral mention” of sexual orientation or gender identity does not violate the law. Mayes said that would include something like reading a book that happens to have LGBTQ characters.
“So there’s an observation regarding a book character’s sexual orientation or gender identity. That stops short of promotion or instruction regarding (sexual orientation or gender identity),” Mayes said. “So that is sort of a safe harbor for classroom teachers that a neutral mention is not a promotion.”
The law also requires schools to notify parents when a student asks to use a name that’s different from what’s on their school records. Mayes said the rules clarify that does not apply to nicknames, but only when the name or pronouns are meant to affirm a student’s trans identity.
“’Thomas to Tom’ doesn’t implicate the rule because that nickname, different name, name not on the birth certificate, was limited in the context of ‘I wish to be recognized, or I declare myself to be a different gender,’” Mayes said.
The department is taking public comment on the rules before they are finalized. Two public hearings will be held Jan. 3 and Jan. 4, 2024 in Des Moines at the Grimes State Office Building.
