NASSAU COUNTY, Fla — Citizens Defending Freedom is suing the Nassau County School District for violation of the Public Records Acts after the group claims the district failed to publicly release health materials available to students that they believe contain age-inappropriate material.
Citizens Defending Freedom Nassau County Director Jack Knocke says the 68-page lawsuit is about transparency.
"They gave us the contracts, they gave us some training materials, but they wouldn't give us access to the actual online tools," Knocke said.
The group has been requesting health materials available to some middle and high school students through the district’s 'Ripple Effect' program since July, according to the lawsuit.
The program is administered by Starting Point Behavioral Healthcare and is geared toward students experiencing behavioral issues. Students can only take part in the program with parental consent.
Knocke says the district did provide a list of topics covered in the program, which include gender identity, LGBTQ+ topics and condom use among other things.
“A lot of the topics that they had listed were sexual in nature. And obviously, this is targeted to children who are at risk. And so why they would take an at-risk child and then have sexual materials in there was concerning," Knocke said.
A Nassau County School District official said in a phone call they could not comment on the lawsuit.
However, the lawsuit includes multiple pieces of correspondence between the district and Citizens Defending Freedom.
The correspondence shows the district did respond to some of the group's initial requests, including providing the contract between the district and Starting Point Behavioral Healthcare for the program, and providing training material utilized by Starting Point Behavioral Healthcare.
However, after these requests, Citizens Defending Freedom also requested the video material used by Starting Point Behavioral Healthcare. In an email from the district’s attorney, which was included in the lawsuit, he said:
“The district does not have access to the Ripple Effects program, which is administered by SPBH personnel. Further, the Ripple Effects program does not consist of videos as stated in the request..."
The email goes on to say, "In addition to the fact that the videos request do not exists, the Ripple Effects Program itself is not a public record as defined by Florida law, as it does not consist of material made or received by the District in connection with official business which is used to perpetuate, communicate or formalize knowledge."
Knocke says he's been told to request the material directly from the healthcare organization.
“It's like telling me to go to random house and get the book that's in the school. It's it's the material of the district. So we're asking for them to find that for us," Knocke said.
District Officials say they have received notice of the lawsuit and are working with their attorneys on a response.
Citizens Defending Freedom and the Nassau County School District have worked together in the past to remove 34 books the group claimed were age-inappropriate.