School may have violated students' rights with book removals: Ed Dept.

(The Hill) - The Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) on Friday announced that a Georgia school district may have violated students’ civil rights by removing books that contained characters who were people of color or LGBTQ. 

The office said it concluded its investigation into Forsyth County School District after the school put restrictions on more than a dozen books in 2022 due to parents’ complaints. The department reviewed documents between the district and parents and meetings regarding the book removals, and it interviewed staff from the school.  

The OCR said the issue started at the beginning of last year after a parent group alleged sexually explicit books were on the library shelves and offered solutions such as removing books, shelving LGBTQ books in a separate part of the school library or making students have signed permission slips before checking out certain books in the library. 

Forsyth County Schools rejected all those proposals, saying they would target specific groups of people, and released a statement saying parents had to discuss with their own children books that conflict with their personal values. 

“Forsyth County Schools’ media centers provide resources that reflect all students within each school community. If you come across a book that does not match your family’s values and/or beliefs, and you would prefer that y...