State Board of Education bans 13 books from all Utah public schools

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Six of the 13 books banned from Utah schools on Aug. 2 were written by American fantasy author Sarah J. Maas

PARK CITY, Utah — Utah State Board of Education released a list of the first 13 books to be banned from every public school in Utah on Friday, Aug. 2.

Although these books had already been removed from student access in several Utah school districts for containing “pornographic or indecent material,” a new law, signed by Gov. Spencer Cox earlier this year, made them eligible for statewide removal.

Just before the start of the school year, every Utah public and charter school must dispose of the following 13 titles:

• “Blankets” by Craig Thompson
• “A Court of Frost and Starlight” by Sarah J. Maas
• “A Court of Mist and Fury” by Sarah J. Maas
• “A Court of Silver Flames” by Sarah J. Maas
• “A Court of Thorns and Roses” by Sarah J. Maas
• “A Court of Wings and Ruin” by Sarah J. Maas
• “Empire of Storms” by Sarah J. Maas
• “Fallout” by Ellen Hopkins
• “Forever” by Judy Blume
• “Milk and Honey” by Rupi Kaur
• “Oryx & Crake” by Margaret Atwood
• “Tilt” by Ellen Hopkins
• “What Girls Are Made Of” by Elana K. Arnold

A book now meets the threshold for statewide removal if three public school districts or two public school districts and five charters schools have removed it from their shelves.

Both Davis and Washington School Districts banned all 13 titles, Alpine School District and Nebo School District each banned seven, Jordan School District banned six, and Tooele County School District banned one.

Park City School District did not ban any of the books on the Aug. 2 list, but according to Heidi Matthews, community relations for Park City School District, all 13 titles will be removed from shelves in PCSD libraries in compliance with Utah State law.

“Park City School District (PCSD) is committed to full compliance with state law and Utah State Board of Education (USBE) rules regarding sensitive materials in our schools,” Matthews said in a statement. “Books that have met the statewide threshold will be promptly removed from student access.”

Each local education agency must establish its own policy for disposing of materials that have been deemed “sensitive.” According to Matthews, PCSD is in the process of updating its sensitive materials policies, and training its staff in order to comply with those policies. PCSD students will return to school on Aug. 20.

“We appreciate the community’s support and understanding as we navigate these updates to our policies and procedures under the Utah Code regarding Sensitive Materials in schools,” Matthews said in a statement.