LEANDER, Texas — Some parents at Leander ISD are calling for certain books to be removed from classrooms, claiming they contain "graphic" and "obscene" material.
Parent Perla Hopkins said there are books that are available at a "student's reach" that include racial stereotypes, racial slurs and pornographic depictions. One example Hopkins gave was a book called "The Lawn Boy" by Jonathan Evison, which is labeled as a semi-autobiography about self-discovery.
Hopkins details that it depicts graphic sexual scenes that are not appropriate for minors to read.
"We find this to be egregious and just deliberate on the part of the Leander Independent School District," Hopkins said.
Hopkins, along with fellow parents and pastors, said the goal is to urge the district to reconsider the reading material in classroom libraries and instructional material.
"If I am a Christian or whatever I follow and I don't agree with what you're exposing my children to, that should be something that's very important to you," fellow parent Prater Gerald said.
Pastor Richard Vega, founder of the At His Feet Ministries in Houston, drove alongside others to the district to raise concerns before board members – an action he said he has been doing across Texas cities.
"School districts that have pornography and extremely racist books within their within their schools that are accessible to minors, which is completely unacceptable by any any means," Vega said.
The group alluded to House Bill 900, which is aimed at banning sexually explicit material in school libraries. The bill was passed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott last year but has been temporarily blocked, leaving the future of certain reading material up in the air.
KVUE reached out to Leander ISD on Thursday ahead of the board meeting, and leaders simply said that they would be looking forward to hearing their concerns.
Back in 2021, Leander ISD removed 11 books after parents had deemed the material inappropriate. Some students within the district took action despite the removal and formed a "banned book club."
Leander ISD parents can file requests for reconsideration of instructional materials.