VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — As another school year begins, the debate over books in schools isn't going away.
The issue over parental rights in school was championed by Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin during his campaign for governor in 2021 and has only intensified since then.
Over the summer in Virginia Beach, a proposal to require school libraries list books with sexually explicit material in middle and high schools was heavily debated.
"Saying this material is necessary because of its redeeming value is as ludicrous as those who say they read Playboy or Hustler for the intellectual articles," a speaker said at the June 12 meeting.
School Board member Vicky Manning and her group Students First VA have been pushing the for the policy and have listed books online they say have been found in schools.
Manning says it would've made parents more aware.
"I did not know [explicit books] were in there, so how am I supposed to opt out of something I don't know about," she said.
Other parents, like Tonya Rivers, spoke against the proposal.
"I have not had any issues with any of the book choices my children have had," said Rivers.
"I truly believe the more options, the more books, the more things are out there for children and young adults in high school to read, I feel like it helps broaden their horizons and gives them a greater understanding of the world we live in," Rivers continued.
The proposal did not pass.
It was similar to a bill backed by former Republican Delegate Tim Anderson, who wanted a similar listing of books in libraries with graphic visuals.
"What I don't 100-percent understand on this debate is why adults think it's okay for books to have graphic sexual content to be in libraries," said Anderson in an interview with News 3.
Anderson's bill failed to advance out of the full General Assembly.
"Parents should have an absolute right to be able to withhold graphic sexual content from their children," he said.
The proposal would be a step further than the current state law in Virginia, which requires parental notification of books taught in school deemed to have sexually explicit material.
Parents can then opt their kids out of the assignment.
In North Carolina, a bill was recently re-introduced to add more parameters for what types of books can be in libraries.
In Virginia Beach, each school lists on their websites the material that could contain sexually explicit material.
On the website of Independence Middle School, To Kill a Mockingbird and The Diary of Anne Frank are listed.
While the issue has brought out strong opinions on both sides, the school system said there are nine requests in their system to opt out of assignments or restrict their access to books in libraries.
During the last school year, there were more than 63,000 students enrolled in the school system.
"We believe it is a solution in search of a problem, where one does not exist,": said Breanna Diaz from the ACLU of Virginia, who says the current state law is too broad and hopes lawmakers will revisit it.
"There's absolutely a benefit for young people to have access to books that reflect their community and probably reflect themselves," said Diaz.
As the school year begins, this isn't an issue that's dying away.
"I think it's a fight that I'll be involved in for many years and I do believe that the public - that parents - are more on our side than the other," said Anderson.
"You're sending your children to Virginia Beach City Public Schools. You should trust the staff. You should trust the teachers and the library media specialists to do their jobs," said Rivers.
