A Texas school district superintendent ordered the Bible removed from school libraries, citing a new state law prohibiting sexually explicit materials in public schools, only to reverse course after parents and a local TV news station raised questions.

Superintendent Darryl Flusche of Canyon Independent School District told parents in an email that he was following the constraints of a recent law, House Bill 900, also known as the READER Act (Restricting Explicit and Adult-Designated Educational Resources), signed in 2023, in ordering Bibles removed from libraries. Canyon, a town of 15,000 in the conservative Texas Panhandle, is home to West Texas A&M University.

Flusche got pushback from his community during a school board meeting on Dec. 9, according to news reports.

HB 900 was aimed at sexually explicit material available in public school libraries that “describes or portrays sexual conduct … in a patently offensive way,” as defined by the Texas penal code.

Flusche told parents in the email: “House Bill 900, which passed during the last legislative session, establishes library standards that restrict content in school libraries. This standard for library content prohibits books that have one instance of sexual content as described above. Therefore, HB 900 doesn’t allow numerous books, including the full text of the Bible, to be available in the school library.”

The superintendent encouraged parents to contact the school board with any questions and offered to connect students wanting a Bible to local churches.

One local citizen called Flusche’s initial decision “absurd.” Regina Kiehne, a Canyon ISD parent, told the school board on Dec. 9, “In a day when we are needing security guards and bulletproof windows and doors, I think having the Word of God available to our children cannot only be preventative to violence, but also provide comfort and a sense of security in a chaotic world.”

Keinhe cited a Wall Street Journal report that Bible sales have sharply increased in the last year.

“It just makes sense to have the Word of God in our school library,” she said. “After all, it is the book of wisdom. It is the bestselling book of all time; it is historically accurate, scientifically sound, and most importantly, life-changing.”

Meanwhile, HB 900’s author, Rep. Jared Patterson (R-Frisco), wrote on X in response to the initial decision to remove the Bible: “The superintendent’s position here was indefensible and appeared to be a result of open hostility toward folks who want sexually explicit content removed from public schools. HB 900 clearly protects the Bible and all religious texts.”

By Dec. 19, according to ABC News7 in Amarillo, the Canyon ISD had reversed course. In a statement to the news station, the school district wrote: “After receiving clarification from Representative (Jared) Patterson regarding library content, we reevaluated the guidelines and are pleased to have the Bible available in each of our Canyon ISD libraries.”

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