Restore Students’ Right to Read – End the Book Ban

 

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) has raised the alarm about a flagrantly illiberal and unconstitutional new ban on students' right to read in Utah. This goes far beyond a question of curriculum or even library curation. As FIRE explains, "[A] student could face consequences just for having a personal copy of a book in their backpack."

I have written the members and officers of the board as follows:

As a lover of liberty and a United States citizen, I am outraged at the board’s recently issued regulation limiting students’ right to bring personal reading material onto school property. This infringes on their fundamental human right of access to information. It is also flagrantly unconstitutional, and may therefore expose the board and its members to legal liability.

Here are the email addresses for the board:

Mailing Address
250 East 500 South
PO Box 144200
Salt Lake City, Utah 84114-4200

Jennie Earl
Morgan
Phone: (801) 644-0622 | jennie.earl@schools.utah.gov

Joseph Kerry
Ogden
Phone: (801) 876-5297 | joseph.kerry@schools.utah.gov

Rod Hall
Syracuse
Phone: (385) 295-7880 | rod.hall@schools.utah.gov

LeAnn Wood
Kaysville
Phone: (801) 661-2247 | leann.wood@schools.utah.gov

Sarah Reale
Salt Lake City
Phone: (435) 757-4660 | sarah.reale@schools.utah.gov

Carol Barlow Lear
Salt Lake City
Phone: (801) 550-8820 | carol.lear@learlaw.com

Christina Boggess
Taylorsville
Phone: (385) 295-7871 | christina.boggess@schools.utah.gov

Amanda Bollinger
Riverton
Phone: (385) 463-7239 | amanda.bollinger@schools.utah.gov

Matt Hymas
Stansbury Park
Phone: (801) 440-9145 | matt.hymas@schools.utah.gov

Cindy Bishop Davis
Cedar Hills
Phone: (801) 319-4117 | cindy.davis@schools.utah.gov

Cole Kelley
Vineyard
Phone: (801) 830-4191 | cole.kelley@schools.utah.gov

Randy Boothe
Spanish Fork
Phone: (801) 318-4316 | randy.boothe@schools.utah.gov

Emily Green
Cedar City
Phone: (435) 938-2652 | emily.green@schools.utah.gov

Joann Brinton
St. George
Phone: (801) 400-4687 | joann.brinton@schools.utah.gov

Cybil Prideaux
Board Secretary

cybil.child@schools.utah.gov

Kelsey Sprout James
Board Communications Coordinator

kelsey.james@schools.utah.gov