A Texas police officer temporarily removed a book from a high school library after a woman filed a criminal complaint over it.
The woman sent an email July 21 to Katy Independent School District police and accused the school of violating a state law prohibiting the distribution of harmful material to minors, and officers briefly removed the book, “Flamer,” by Mike Curato, while investigating her claims, reported the Houston Chronicle.
“Per Governor Abbott and the [Texas Education Agency], the book ‘Flamer’ should have been removed from KISD library shelves but it still remains,” the woman said in an email to the officer. “The KISD Police Report will be sent to the Texas Rangers office.”
The woman told police she had already filed complaints about the book, which tells the story of a closeted teenager at a Boy Scouts summer camp, with the school district but was not satisfied with the outcome because Jordan High School and other high schools kept it on the shelves.
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“(The principal) explained that when ‘Flamer’ was initially complained on, it was pulled from school library shelves, reviewed, permanently removed from junior high libraries, and then returned to high school libraries upon being deemed appropriate for high school,” reads the police report.
The investigation concluded that her claim was unsubstantiated and police returned the book to Jordan High School.
“The book has gone through multiple review processes by the district, including one with a committee made up of librarians, parents, and teachers, and deemed appropriate for high school libraries,” the report reads. “The complainant also still has the opportunity to take her complaint before the KISD board.”
“Flamer” was reviewed for appropriateness by seven other Texas school districts, and Katy and two others, Northeast and Keller, kept the book in libraries while Callisburg permanently removed all copies and Clear Creek makes it available to high students only.
It's not clear what Amarillo and Pasadena school districts decided.
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