ON APRIL 17, 2023, THE HOUSE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 843, AS AMENDED.
AMENDMENT #1 rewrites this bill to revise various provisions of present law pertaining to the Age-Appropriate Materials Act of 2022 and the state textbook and instructional materials quality commission.
AGE-APPROPRIATE MATERIALS ACT
Under present law, beginning with the 2022-2023 school year, each school operated by an LEA and each public charter school must maintain a current list of the materials in the school's library collection. The list must be posted on the school's website. By the 2022-2023 school year, each local board of education and public charter school governing body (LEA) must adopt a policy for developing and reviewing school library collections. The policy must include:
(1) A procedure for the development of a library collection at each school that is appropriate for the age and maturity levels of the students who may access the materials, and that is suitable for, and consistent with, the educational mission of the school;
(2) A procedure for the LEA to receive and evaluate feedback from a student, a student's parent or guardian, or a school employee regarding one or more of the materials in the library collection of the student's or employee's school; and
(3) A procedure to periodically review the library collection at each school to ensure that the school's library collection contains materials appropriate for the age and maturity levels of the students who may access the materials, and that is suitable for, and consistent with, the educational mission of the school.
An LEA must evaluate each material for which feedback is provided to determine whether the material is appropriate for the age and maturity levels of the students who may access the materials, and to determine whether the material is suitable for, and consistent with, the educational mission of the school. If the LEA determines that material contained in the school's library collection is not appropriate for the age and maturity levels of the students who may access the materials, or is not suitable for, or consistent with, the educational mission of the school, then the school must remove the material from the library collection. The procedures adopted are not the exclusive means to remove material from a school's library collection, and do not preclude an LEA from developing or implementing other policies, practices, or procedures for the removal of materials from a library.
This amendment adds to present law by specifying that the following material is not appropriate:
(1) Material that contains nudity or descriptions or depictions of sexual excitement, sexual conduct, excess violence, or sadomasochistic abuse for the age or maturity level of a student in any of the grades K-12 and must not be maintained in a school's library collection; or
(2) Is patently offensive, or appeals to the prurient interest for the age or maturity level of a student in any of the grades K-12 and must not be maintained in a school's library collection.
Under this amendment, if an LEA receives feedback concerning a material under the policy described in (1)-(3), then the LEA must evaluate and determine, within 60 days from the date the feedback was received, whether the material is appropriate. If the LEA does not make a determination within 60 days, the person who submitted the feedback may request the state textbook and instructional materials quality commission to evaluate the material.
This amendment specifies that an LEA's determination made on whether a material is appropriate for the age and maturity level of the students who may access the material, and whether the material is suitable for, and consistent with, the educational mission of the school, does not establish a contemporary community standard for purposes of the criminal offenses involving obscenity.
TEXTBOOK COMMISSION
This amendment requires the commission to evaluate and determine whether a material in a school's library collection is appropriate for the age and maturity level of the students who may access the materials, and whether the material is suitable for, and consistent with, the educational mission of the school if the LEA does not make a timely determination as described above. The commission must issue the commission's determination in writing and each LEA must include, or remove, the challenged material in, or from, the library collection for each of the LEA's schools for the grade levels for which the commission has found the challenged material to be appropriate or inappropriate for students.
ON MARCH 7, 2024, THE SENATE SUBSTITUTED HOUSE BILL 843 FOR SENATE BILL 1060, ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1, AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 843, AS AMENDED.
AMENDMENT #1 changes the effective date to July 1, 2024.
ON MARCH 25, 2024, THE SENATE RECALLED HOUSE BILL 843 FROM THE HOUSE.
ON MARCH 28, 2024, THE SENATE LIFTED THE TABLING MOTIONG, RECONSIDERED ITS ACTION IN PASSING HOUSE BILL 843, ADOPTED AMENDMENT #2, AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 843, AS AMENDED.
AMENDMENT #2 adds that if any provision of the bill, or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, then the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of the bill that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to that end, the provisions of the bill are severable.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 49-7-2701(c), 49-7-2701