Editor’s note: This story was updated at 12:23 p.m. on Sept. 14 to reflect more context around the books present in Summer Boismier’s library and language used in the order.
The Oklahoma State Department of Education released the order that revoked Norman educator Summer Boismier’s teaching license Thursday.
According to the order, Boismier “willfully” violated House Bill 1775 by circumventing district guidelines by intentionally promoting banned books to students. The order does not claim Boismier taught any of the concepts prohibited in HB 1775, despite claims from state Superintendent Ryan Walters’ that she broke the law.
According to a footnote present at the bottom of the order, “nothing in this Order is intended to rely on provision of (HB 1775).”
HB 1775 is a 2021 law that restricts what schools teach about race and gender. It prohibits teaching that one is superior to another, that some people are inherently oppressive and that they bear guilt for the deeds of others of the same race or sex.
In the order, the Oklahoma State Board of Education pointed to three books Boismier had in her library that, according to the board, were not appropriate for students and appeared on the “banned books” list.
Norman High School Principal Hallie Wright testified that she saw “Gender Queer,” a book by Maia Kobabe, on a bookshelf in Boismier’s classroom on Aug. 19, according to the order. The district also identified “Lawn Boy” by Johnathan Evison and “Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You” by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi in her classroom.
“The books contain sexually explicit language not appropriate for the students in Boismier’s classroom,” the order reads.
Norman Public Schools created guidelines that required teachers to review all books in the classroom for violations of HB 1775.
If teachers were unable to review their books before the school year began, they were instructed to cover them in the meantime, according to the order.
The incident began in August 2022, when students who entered Boismier’s classroom saw bookshelves wrapped in red paper with the phrase “books the state doesn’t want you to read” written across them.
The display also featured a QR code that linked to the Brooklyn Public Library’s Books Unbanned catalog, which promotes free access to banned books.
The district did not need to prove that students actually accessed banned books through the QR code, the order states. It only needed to demonstrate that Boismier intended to promote these books to her students.
Parent complaints about explicit material in the books followed, and witnesses testified that she “used her classroom as a space for politics.”
Boismier resigned on Aug. 23 after eight years of teaching English in Oklahoma and moved to New York soon after.
“Make no mistake, the real victims here are Oklahoma public school students,” Boismier told the OU Daily in 2022.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters, then secretary of education, posted a letter calling for the revocation of her teaching certificate on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“There is no place for a teacher with liberal political agenda in the classroom,” Walters wrote. “Ms. Boismier’s providing access to banned and pornographic material to students is unacceptable and we must ensure she doesn’t go to another district and do the same thing.”
In February 2023, the Department of Education applied to revoke Boismier’s teaching certificate.
In the June 2024 hearing, Boismier said the display was in “opposition” of HB 1775.
Assistant Attorney General Liz Stevens ruled that there was no “convincing” evidence to show that Boismier used banned books in class curriculum. She also wrote that there is “no corroborating evidence” that “Gender Queer” was present and visible in the classroom.
“If a copy of ‘Gender Queer’ did exist in (Boismier)’s classroom library, it was covered from students’ view with opaque paper with the rest of the classroom library books, per district guidelines,” Stevens wrote.
Justin Holcomb, press secretary for the Oklahoma State Department of Education, said the department has no obligation to follow Stevens’ ruling.
Boismier filed to sue Walters for defamation, false representation, slander and libel that September.
On June 27, Boisemier’s teaching license was officially revoked with a unanimous vote by the State Board of Education.
Most schools do not accept revoked certificates from other states, Boismier wrote on X, and is concerned she won’t get another teaching job.
“So what does one do? How does one make rent? How does one eat? How does one live with the consequences of someone else’s vendetta?,” Boismier wrote.
In August, U.S. District Judge Charles Goodwin ordered the board to turn over the revocation order and related documents by Thursday, leading to its release.
Boismier’s attorney, Brady Henderson, did not respond to the OU Daily’s request for a statement.
“I will not apologize for sharing publicly available information about library access with my students,” Boismier wrote on X on Aug. 22. “My livelihood will never be as important as someone’s life or right to read what they want. I fully intend to fight this revocation and the law that enables it: HB 1775.”
This story was edited by Anusha Fathepure and Ana Barboza.
