by Reagan Reese
Oklahoma is planning to strip accreditation from schools that allow “pornographic” materials in its libraries, according to the state superintendent.
State Superintendent Ryan Walters announced a new rule on Friday that would lower the accreditation status of any school districts if “pornographic materials or sexualized content” is available to minors through its libraries. Under the rule, school districts must list, either on an online catalog or to the Oklahoma Department of Education, all books and materials available in their libraries.
“Pornography in the classrooms must stop,” Walters told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Vendors and school districts must get rid of every aspect of inappropriate material from our schools. We must do better for our kids.”
Prohibition on Pornography in Schools pic.twitter.com/q3x9s1YyFj
— Superintendent Ryan Walters (@RyanWaltersSupt) February 10, 2023
School districts must also enact a policy for reviewing materials that community members have flagged as “poronographic,” the proposed rule stated. If the rule is enacted by the state Board of Education in March, the school district must post a list of its available materials within 60 days.
A public hearing will be held on the rule concluding the public comment period on March 17 before the rule is voted on by the Board of Education, Walters told the DCNF.
In August, Oklahoma’s State Board of Education downgraded the accreditation of Tulsa Public Schools and Mustang Public Schools after violating the state’s Critical Race Theory (CRT) ban in a staff training and teacher lesson. The “accreditation with warning” requires both districts to prove to the board that they have removed CRT from its curriculum and staff training.
Oklahoma’s State Board of Education did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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Reagan Reese is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.
Photo “Ryan Walters” by Ryan Walters. Background Photo “Child in School Library Looking at Books” by RODNAE Productions.
What penalties are to be imposed on schools, districts and boards which fail to comply?