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Escambia County Public Schools

1599 titles banned · Florida

Banned Books

100 Characters from Classical Mythology 100 Characters from Classical Mythology 100 Sideways Miles 100 Sideways Miles 13 Minutes 13 Minutes 145th Street: Short Stories 145th Street: Short Stories 17 First Kisses 17 First Kisses 1Q84 1Q84 9 Days and 9 Nights 9 Days and 9 Nights 96 Words for Love 96 Words for Love 99 Days 99 Days A Breath of Snow and Ashes A Breath of Snow and Ashes A Clash of Kings A Clash of Kings A Clockwork Orange A Clockwork Orange A Curse of Roses A Curse of Roses A Curse So Dark and Lonely A Curse So Dark and Lonely A Dance with Dragons A Dance with Dragons A Feast for Crows A Feast for Crows A Game of Thrones A Game of Thrones A Girl Like That A Girl Like That A Good Girl's Guide to Murder A Good Girl's Guide to Murder A Good Idea A Good Idea A Great and Terrible Beauty A Great and Terrible Beauty A Heart in a Body in the World A Heart in a Body in the World A Heart So Fierce and Broken A Heart So Fierce and Broken A Killing Frost A Killing Frost A List of Cages A List of Cages A Madness So Discreet A Madness So Discreet A Million Junes A Million Junes A Need So Beautiful A Need So Beautiful A Painted House A Painted House A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man A Psalm for Lost Girls A Psalm for Lost Girls A Question of Holmes A Question of Holmes A River of Royal Blood A River of Royal Blood A Storm of Swords A Storm of Swords A Study in Charlotte A Study in Charlotte A Swift Pure Cry A Swift Pure Cry A Tale of Two Cities A Tale of Two Cities A Taxonomy of Love A Taxonomy of Love A Thousand Splendid Suns A Thousand Splendid Suns A Time to Kill A Time to Kill A Volcano Beneath the Snow A Volcano Beneath the Snow A Want So Wicked A Want So Wicked A Wounded Name A Wounded Name aaliyah more than a woman aaliyah more than a woman Abandon Abandon Achilles Achilles Across the Universe Across the Universe Africa (Cultural Atlas for Young People) Africa (Cultural Atlas for Young People)

About Escambia County Public Schools

Escambia County Public Schools is the public school system serving Escambia County in the Florida Panhandle, with its administrative offices in Pensacola. As of the 2023–24 school year, the district enrolls approximately 40,000 students across more than 70 schools, making it one of the mid-sized districts in Florida by enrollment. The district serves Pensacola, the largest city in the Panhandle, as well as the surrounding unincorporated communities stretching to the Alabama border. Pensacola’s identity is shaped in part by a large military presence: Naval Air Station Pensacola, home of the Blue Angels, is one of the oldest naval air stations in the United States.

The district operates elementary, middle, and high schools, including Pensacola High School, Washington High School, and Pine Forest High School. Escambia County’s schools have long reflected the political and cultural character of the Florida Panhandle, a deeply conservative region that has consistently aligned with Northwest Florida’s Republican-dominant electorate.

Books in Schools

Escambia County Public Schools recorded one of the highest volumes of book restrictions of any school district in the United States during the 2022–24 period, driven by Florida’s House Bill 1467, signed by Governor Ron DeSantis in March 2022. The law required that all books in school libraries and classrooms be reviewed and approved by a certified district media specialist before students could access them. Until those reviews were completed, schools were required to remove books from circulation—a process that produced massive library withdrawals across the state.

Escambia County implemented HB 1467 expansively. Districts across Florida emptied shelves of thousands of titles, and Escambia was among those where the number of removed or restricted books reached into the hundreds or low thousands by the time tracking organizations began tallying them. Titles included children’s picture books, classic American literature, and award-winning young adult fiction. The practical effect was that students arrived to find library shelves covered or bare for months at a time. Critics, including PEN America and the American Library Association, identified Florida as the leading state for book bans nationally during this period.

This district's book removals have drawn news coverage — see reporting from CBS News for more.