In a significant policy reversal, Davis School District in Utah has lifted its ban on the King James Version of the Bible in its elementary and middle school libraries.
The unanimous decision from Davis School District came after 70 people filed appeals following a review committee’s decision to remove the Bible from shelves accessible to younger children.
The review committee was formed after the district received a request late last year from a community member who argued that the King James Bible should not be allowed in any of the district’s libraries.
Davis School District explained in a statement that while the review committee ruled that “the Bible does not contain material which violates the bright line rule…it then considered age appropriateness of The Bible and determined that The Bible was age appropriate for continued inclusion in high school libraries, but not in junior high or elementary school libraries.”
Following a wave of appeals from parents, an appeals committee was formed to reconsider the review committee’s initial decision.
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The appeal committee agreed with the previous determination that the Bible “does not contain material which violates ‘bright line rule.’” However, it overrode the previous decision about age appropriateness, stating that the Bible “has significant, serious value for minors which outweighs the violent or vulgar content it contains” and should be returned to all school library shelves.
The book review process was initiated after the passing of Utah’s H.B. 374 in 2022. The bill was designed to prohibit “certain sensitive instructional materials in public schools.”
“To date, the district has conducted reviews for 60 books,” the statement said. Thirty-seven of those books were removed from all libraries for violating the bright line rule, while 14 books were only restricted at some school levels due to age appropriateness. Nine books were found to be age-appropriate at all levels.
Davis School District has yet to act upon a request it received earlier this month to review the Book of Mormon for similar reasons it was asked to review the Bible.
