Santa Rosa County School Board candidate urges deputies to regulate library content

SANTA ROSA COUNTY, Fla. -- A Santa Rosa County mother is asking law enforcement to get involved into what books can and cannot be checked out from school libraries.

The most recent case came two weeks ago when a representative with "Moms for Liberty" said one high school was allowing students to walk away with pornographic material.

WEAR News has obtained the body-cam video of an officer who was called in to investigation one such case at Jay High School.

A woman dialed the sheriff's office to report pornography being distributed to students at Jay High School. She wanted to remain anonymous in providing her information.

That woman is Jennifer Tapley, a Republican running for the District 2 School Board seat.

The newsletter "Popular Information" shared audio and video with WEAR News identifying Tapley. The news source secured each through a freedom of information request.

Body-cam video inside the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's office from late October shows Tapley and Tom Gurski. The two are members of "Moms for Liberty," the national non-profit geared toward having their voices heard in schools everywhere.

"We basically just fight in numbers. There's strength in numbers so we got together to do that," Tapley said. "What we're looking for quite frankly is we'd like to see an investigation started into it."

Tapley says the book in question, "Storm and Fury," contains pornography that under law, can't be on school shelves. She wanted the sheriffs office to take action against the school libraries throughout the county.

"The governor says this is child pornography. It's a serious crime, it's just as serious if I handed her a Playboy in front of you right here, right now. It's just as serious, it's the law," Tapley said.

"They call this 'book banning,' it's not 'book banning' when they were never supposed to be there in the first place," Tapley said.

The school district vehemently dismisses Tapley's claims, citing strict policies passed by the legislature in 2022.

District officials told WEAR News their procedures are in compliance with the statute, including giving parents the choice on how much, if any, access their child can have to reading materials.

Furthermore, the district website states materials deemed by some parents to be objectionable may be considered by others to have sound educational value.

The district says no formal challenge has been submitted for the book in question, though it has been quarantined and has not gone back in circulation.

After meeting with Tapley, deputies are heard discussing the case, saying they have no jurisdiction over these matters.