If a New Hampshire parent wants to remove a book from their school district for being too obscene, the process depends on their district.

Some school boards have passed policies laying out an explicit mechanism to challenge books or other materials; others have much sparser language. 

This year, Republican lawmakers are seeking to make the process easier. The House and Senate are moving to require New Hampshire schools to allow parents to challenge books and other materials they deem obscene, and to create formal appeals processes for weighing those challenges.

“This bill is about materials that are harmful to minor children in schools and the ability for parents to object to them,” wrote Rep. Glenn Cordelli, a Tuftonboro Republican and the chairman of the House Education Policy and Administration Committee. 

But Democrats, public school advocates, and civil rights groups have strongly objected, arguing the new process could allow parents to target materials that tackle race and LGBTQ+ issues, and arguing school districts should design their own policies.

A representative from Penguin Random House, the book publisher, submitted written testimony to the committee in early March objecting to the bill.

“HB 324 is problematic due to overly broad language, redundancy with existing laws, and potential intimidation of educators and librarians that will negatively affect book and material selection in New Hampshire’s schools and libraries,” wrote Skip Dye, the chairman of the publisher’s Intellectual Freedom Taskforce.

Dye continued: “Ultimately, it will deprive young readers access to literature that is crucial for their intellectual and emotional development. And without non-discrimination provisions, the lowered standard in this bill may be weaponized against minority voices.” 

The legislation echoes efforts by Republicans in past years. This year, lawmakers appear more likely to succeed. House Bill 324 passed the House on March 26, 183-148, along a near party line vote, while the Senate passed Senate Bill 33 on March 30 with a 16-8 vote.  But the chambers don’t yet fully agree on key issues. The House-endorsed bill goes further than its Senate counterpart, including more appeals processes for parents and more potential penalties for schools. 

HB 324 would mandate that school boards pass policies that allow parents to complain that certain materials are harmful to minors and should be removed from the school district.

In order to be “harmful to minors,” the material must “predominantly appeal to the prurient, shameful, or morbid interest of minors”; must depict or describe nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, or sadomasochistic abuse; must be “patently offensive to prevailing standards” of what is offense to minors; must lack “serious” literary, scientific, medical, artistic, or political value; and must be inappropriate to the age group to which it is available, according to the bill.

The material must meet all of those conditions in order to qualify as harmful, according to the bill. The material could include books, magazines, movies, pamphlets, recordings, photos, figures, statues, plays, dances, and any other visual presentation, web-based content, and live performance.

Under the bill, school boards must pass policies that allow a parent or guardian to make a complaint alleging that a teaching material in that school district violates the law. At that point, the school’s principal or a designee would have 14 calendar days to make a decision whether the material was in violation and whether it should be removed.

If the principal decided the material did not violate the law, the parent could appeal the decision to the school board. 

SB 33 requires a similar complaint process. 

But HB 324 adds two additional provisions that have vexed opponents. 

First, if the school board also rules against the complaining parent, that parent can appeal a final time to the State Board of Education, HB 324 states. The State Board’s decision is final. 

Second, under HB 324, school districts and individual teachers can face consequences if a material is decided to be prohibited and the school continues to provide that material anyway. School districts can be sued by parents; teachers and other staff can face disciplinary sanctions by the State Board of Education for violating the educator code of conduct.