CHINO, CA 鈥� The Chino Valley Unified School Board (CVUSD) tonight passed a policy banning books and censoring classrooms that is almost certain to set up another legal battle with the State of California, as it appears to contradict the purpose Governor Gavin Newsom鈥檚 ban on book bans, AB 1078, that was signed into law in September.

鈥淔rom Temecula to Tallahassee, fringe ideologues across the country are attempting to whitewash history and ban books from schools,鈥� . 鈥淲ith this new law, we鈥檙e cementing California鈥檚 role as the true freedom state: a place where families 鈥� not political fanatics 鈥� have the freedom to decide what鈥檚 right for them.鈥� 

CVUSD Board President Sonja Shaw introduced her  in October, and expanded it to apply to 鈥溾€� ahead of this evening鈥檚 vote that passed 3-2. Shaw, who asserted she was not 鈥溾€� upon introducing her proposal, appears to have lifted entire paragraphs of it directly from the generic one-size-fits-all 鈥溾€� template provided in   鈥淭ake Back the Classroom鈥� . 

鈥淥ur teachers are overworked, underpaid, and very clearly under appreciated by this board who believe they have time to do their important jobs teaching our children and, as a nefarious extracurricular, indoctrinate them,鈥� said Kristi Hirst, a parent, former teacher, and co-founder of 188体育. 

鈥淭eachers tell me they鈥檙e worried about the chilling effect curriculum censorship will have on classroom learning, resources, and an increasingly challenging and negative school climate,鈥� she continued. 鈥淭his censorship is a naked attempt to discourage innovative teaching, squash creativity, and bury this school district in red tape and unsustainable legal expenses. The result of passing this type of censorship will diminish the quality of education available to our students, diminish the quality of teachers available to our students, and increase an already too-high number of teacher vacancies in this district.鈥� 

What鈥檚 certain is the consequences of Shaw鈥檚 latest crusade will be felt by students, teachers, parents, and Chino taxpayers. Earlier this week, the  reported that 鈥�Chino Valley鈥檚 legal bills have tripled after the transgender outing policy,鈥� and tonight, CVUSD approved paying Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo (AALRR), legal invoices for the months of August and September totaling $159,865.51, bringing the total year-to-date payment to the firm in the first three months of the 2023-24 school year to $190,786.76. In contrast, CVUSD paid AALRR $307,357.84 for legal services covering all twelve months of the 2022-23 school year.

Shaw, and supporters of her crude policy, claim 鈥溾€� in her proposal. Speaking before the U.S. House Committee on Education & the Workforce in October,  what constitutes a book being banned.

 If on Monday a student has access to a book, and on Tuesday she doesn鈥檛 as a result of a challenge of that book鈥檚 content, ideas, or themes, then that book has been banned. 

For that student, ready access to the book has been diminished or entirely restricted whether that book is now locked in an administrator鈥檚 office, moved to an upper grade library or permanently removed from circulation, or whether that book eventually gets returned to the shelf at an indeterminate period of review. For the duration, that student can no longer access that book, it is banned.