S.C. Board of Education removes handful of books from schools

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - The South Carolina Board of Education agreed to remove several books from the state’s public schools on Tuesday.

Robert Cathcart, policy and legal advisor at the South Carolina Department of Education, presented the board with examples from each book with what the state described as sexual content that was developmentally inappropriate for children.

Under current state law, citizens are allowed to submit complaints about books found in public school libraries and classrooms by sending a form to the Instructional Materials Review Committee (IMRC). Parents or guardians can submit complaints on up to five books each calendar month, so long as they make a good faith effort to address their concerns with school district staff, according to State Superintendent Ellen Weaver’s policy, Regulation 43-170.

That regulation bans “topics, messages, materials and teaching methods suitable to particular ages or age groups of children and adolescents, based on developing cognitive, emotional, and behavioral capacity typical for the age or age group. Instructional Material is not ‘Age and Developmentally Appropriate’ for any age or age group of children if it includes descriptions or visual depictions of ‘sexual conduct,’” the regulation said. The definition of being used includes “normal” intercourse.

Each of the books that were brought before the State Board of Education on Tuesday were recommended by the IMRC to be removed from South Carolina public schools, Cathcart said.

“These are viewpoint neutral decisions,” Cathcart said. “It’s not if you agree or disagree with the content presented. It’s a simple, ‘Yes, does it contain descriptions of sexual content.’ If it contains those descriptions, then it violates the regulation.”

The six books that were removed for violating the regulation were:

• “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky
• “All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George M. Johnson
• “Flamer” by Mike Curato
• “Push” by Sapphire

The two books the state decided to retain were:

• “Bronx Masquerade” by Nikki Grimes
• “House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros

The South Carolina Board of Education posts the excerpts that the board was shown Tuesday on their website.

These are not the first books to be challenged by South Carolinians or removed the State Board of Education. In 2024, seven books were banned from South Carolina schools:

• “A Court of Frost and Starlight” by Sarah J. Maas
• “A Court of Mist and Fury” by Sarah J. Maas
• “A Court of Thorns and Roses” by Sarah J. Maas
• “A Court of Wings and Ruin” by Sarah J. Maas
• “Damsel” by Elana Arnold
• “Ugly Love” by Colleen Hoover
• “Normal People” by Sally Rooney

Three classics had also been brought before IMRC due to potentially objectionable or challenging material: “1984″ by George Orwell, “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee and “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare.

The classics were allowed to stay on school shelves.

Copyright 2025 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.