St. Francis students protest book bans with walkout as lawsuits challenge the district’s policy – The Times of India

Students from St. Francis High School staged a walkout on March 24, 2025, to protest the removal of numerous books from their school libraries. The protest comes amid growing tensions over the school district’s controversial book ban policy, which uses ratings from the now-defunct website BookLooks.org to determine which books should be removed. The district’s decision has sparked two lawsuits, one filed by a group of parents and another by the ACLU of Minnesota.
The walkout, which saw around 125 students leaving their classrooms, was a response to the district’s ban on books that have been deemed to contain “objectionable content.” These books include popular titles like The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini and The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. Students, including Rowan Anderson, voiced concerns that these book removals were harming their education. As quoted by the Star Tribune, Anderson said, “This is causing an extreme detrimental effect to our education, and the tension is palpable within the high school itself.”
Legal actions and ACLU support
The lawsuits filed on March 24, 2025, in Anoka County District Court, challenge the St. Francis Area Schools’ new policy, which bases book bans on ratings from BookLooks.org. The ratings, on a scale from 0 to 5, flag books with a rating of 3 or above as inappropriate for school libraries. The policy has drawn criticism for its lack of transparency and its reliance on a now-defunct website. The ACLU of Minnesota has joined the legal battle, arguing that the book bans violate students’ constitutional rights to access information, with ACLU-MN Staff Attorney Catherine Ahlin-Halverson stating, “The freedom to read is fundamental to our democracy” (Star Tribune).
Community response and student solidarity
The student walkout was not only a protest but also a demonstration of solidarity. Outside the St. Francis High School, community members, including Barb Anderson, showed support for the students’ actions. Anderson, who has two children who graduated from the district, held a sign reading “Give Teachers Their Books Back!” as reported by the Star Tribune. The protests are expected to intensify as the lawsuits proceed and the district’s book ban policy faces legal scrutiny.