The Iowa Board of Education has unanimously approved rules for an embattled 2023 law requiring staff to remove books that feature sex acts from schools.
Iowa educators have waited for more than a year for the Iowa Department of Education to release guidance concerning the Republicans’ sweeping education law, Senate File 496.
The law requires Iowa schools to remove most books depicting sex acts from shelves and provide learning materials that are age-appropriate. The law also bans discussion and instruction through sixth grade pertaining to gender identity and sexual orientation.
A selection of titles pulled from the shelves of Iowa public schools, photographed at the Des Moines Register Wednesday, March 13, 2024.
Hundreds of Iowa schools have not removed any books under the law, according to an exclusive Des Moines Register statewide survey. Previously, educators have cited the lack of rules as one reason for not removing any books.
Was the public able to give feedback about the SF 496 rules?
Yes, the last hearing related to the rules was Dec. 31, 2024.
No one spoke at the hearing and only three written comments were submitted.
Why has it taken so long to pass the book-related rules?
Proposed Senate File 496 rules were released in November 2023, days before parts of the law were challenged in two lawsuits filed by the ACLU of Iowa and Lambda Legal on behalf of several Iowa families, as well as the Iowa State Education Association, Penguin Random House, authors whose books were removed from schools as a result of the law, several educators and one parent.
In December 2023, the matter was further complicated when a federal court injunction stayed parts of the law related to books and curriculum. The move happened days before the Jan. 1, 2024, penalties portion of the law went into effect.
What are the SF 496 rules?
The rules require a school library program to only have “age-appropriate materials, and that supports the student achievement goals of the total school curriculum.” Schools also need to keep a list of books that are available to students on their website and update it at least twice a year.
For school libraries that serve multiple grades, staff should “exercise reasonable physical, administrative and technological controls to ensure that students have access to age-appropriate materials based on the students’ age and grade,” according to the rules.
Schools are also not allowed to “provide any program, curriculum, test, survey, questionnaire, promotion or instruction relating to gender identity or sexual orientation to students in kindergarten through grade six.”
When do the SF 496 rules go into effect?
Despite the previous lack of rules, schools should already be following the law.
“The underlying statute is in effect,” said Thomas Mayes, Iowa Department of Education’s general counsel, after the Dec. 31 hearing.
The rules passed Thursday will go into effect April 9, according to Iowa Board of Education documents.
From 2023: An Iowa school official needed to know if 42 books contained sex. She asked ChatGPT for help
What other rules related to SF 496 have been passed?
Last June, the Iowa Board of Education passed rules related to the law’s requirement that school administrators alert a student’s parent or caregiver if the child wants to use a different name or pronouns.
What’s the legal status of Senate File 496?
Senate File 496 remains the subject of two federal lawsuits, led by the ACLU of Iowa, and Iowa State Education Association and Penguin Random House, claiming the law is unconstitutional.
On the same day the board approved the final rules, U.S. District Judge Stephen Locher heard arguments in their requests for injunctions blocking portions of the law while the case moves forward.
Locher previously granted injunctions in both cases, but the Eighth Circuit appellate court reversed that decision, finding the district judge had given insufficient weight to the state’s interest in limiting speech that “undermines or is inconsistent with its central mission of educating Iowa children.”
On Thursday, Locher indicated he’s struggling with how to implement the appellate court’s directions, as well as a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling regarding First Amendment restrictions in the context of social media. At one point, he told an attorney for Penguin that “12 months ago I agreed with you, and the Eighth Circuit said I did it wrong and reversed me, so I’m not sure how sending it back up with similar reasoning will be any more persuasive to them.”
Lawyers for the publishers and individual student plaintiffs focused on what they described as the laws overbreadth, with attorney Frederick Sperling arguing for Penguin that the law is “age-indifferent” because it bans books from all school libraries without regard to whether the students are high school seniors or kindergarteners.
For the state, attorney William Admussen argued the law is actually much narrower than the plaintiffs have alleged and does not ban books mentioning same-sex relationships and other controversial topics “in a neutral fashion.” He also argued the plaintiffs have failed to present sufficient evidence to find the law unconstitutional on its face, and that in any case, a preliminary injunction is improper now that the law has had time to take effect.
Locher said he will issue written rulings at a later date.
Related: Iowa’s proposed rules move forward to enforce law banning certain books in public schools
What are the law’s penalties?
Employees and administrators who do not remove books that violate the law could face a written reprimand for a first offense.
Additional violations could lead to an Iowa Board of Educational Examiners’ hearing and possible disciplinary action.
Related: Iowa book ban’s toll: 3,400 pulled books, including ‘1984’ and ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’
Samantha Hernandez covers education for the Register. Reach her at (515) 851-0982 or svhernandez@gannett.com. Follow her on X at @svhernandez, Bluesky at @svhernandez.bsky.social or Facebook at facebook.com/svhernandezreporter.
William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com or 715-573-8166.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa Board of Education approves new Senate File 496 rules
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