New Missouri law bans ‘explicit’ content in school books. What it means for KC districts

A Missouri law banning “explicit sexual” images in school materials — including library books — went into effect this week.

The restrictions on school materials are one part of a larger law dealing with sexual assault survivors’ rights, added by Republican State Sen. Rick Brattin, who represents district 31 just south of Kansas City.

The law makes it a Class A misdemeanor to share materials deemed explicit with a student, an offense that could get up to a year of jail time and up to $2,000 in fines.

The ban on sexually explicit images applies to both public and private elementary, middle and high schools.

Proponents of the law say it will protect children, while critics worry that it could be broadly interpreted to censor images of LGBTQ relationships or other content depicting diverse viewpoints. The Missouri Association of School Librarians released a statement on Aug. 9 saying it “will support our librarians to preserve intellectual freedom” if a challenge emerges.

The Kansas City Public Library said in a statement that the law is intended to address books “perceived as problematic,” but that the library, “objects when well-intentioned protections become censorship.”

“The subjective restriction of reading material is counter to the diversity needed to serve the needs of all readers,” KCPL’s statement continued. “Equitable access is a hallmark of intellectual freedom and should be valued, not compromised.”

At least one school district in the Kansas City area is reviewing books in its library to ensure compliance with this new state law. So far, no districts in the metro have reported removing books from their school libraries. We’ll update this piece if we learn of any more concerns.

What does the law actually say?

The text of the law says that someone who is affiliated with a school “in an official capacity” cannot provide “explicit sexual material” to a student if they “know of its content.”

The law considers anyone who “provides, assigns, supplies, donates, loans or coerces acceptance of” banned images, as well as those who possess explicit material “with the purpose of” giving it to a student, as committing the offense.

What counts as ‘explicit sexual material’?

The new law only applies to visual content, including photos, videos or pictures showing “deviant sexual intercourse” or images “emphasizing” adult genitalia. That means that written text about sexual situations is still allowed, but graphic novels and other visual media could be restricted. The law also makes an exception for “works of art,” “works of anthropological significance” and material used in science classes, but leaves those terms open to interpretation.

Sen. Brattin, who authored the ban, said in a May press release that the measure is intended to “protect children from pornographic materials.”

“In schools all across the country, we’ve seen this disgusting and inappropriate content making its way into our classrooms,” Brattin said. “Instead of recognizing this as the threat it is, some schools are actually fighting parents to protect this filth. The last place our children should be seeing pornography is in our schools.”

How are Kansas City school districts reacting?

Kearney: School district librarians are reviewing materials in their collections to evaluate any potentially sexual imagery, district spokesperson Ray Weikal told The Star in a statement on Tuesday.

“In response to Missouri Senate Bill 775, our school librarians have been working to evaluate any materials within our collections that contain sexually explicit images, pictures and/or graphics,” he said. “This is an ongoing process.”

Kansas City Public Schools: The district said in an email that it “plans to comply with the legal requirements of SB 775 and is in the process of updating our administrative policies to provide guidance for our staff members.” KCPS hasn’t made any changes to their materials at this time.

Lee’s Summit: District spokesperson Talia Evans told The Star that the district is not currently making any changes to curricula or available books, but that it is keeping an eye on relevant laws to ensure the district continues to comply with them.

Fort Osage: “Our librarians have not shown any concern at this point,” said Stephanie Smith, a spokesperson for Fort Osage school district. “We’ll be discussing (the new law) in more detail with staff at an upcoming professional development day, but nobody has shown any concerns so far about the processes we already have in place.”

Belton: Spokesperson Mickie Plummer Shepheard said in a statement that the district is “reviewing the impact the new law will have,” but as of now it’s not affecting any material in district libraries or curriculum. “We will be reviewing materials on a case-by-case basis as questions arise.”

Eight other Kansas City area school districts in Missouri have not responded to requests for comment. We aren’t aware of any books or curriculum materials facing a challenge for explicit content yet. We’ll continue to report on this topic as we learn more in the upcoming school year.

Do you have more questions about education in Kansas City? Ask the Service Journalism team at kcq@kcstar.com.