Library books now included in policy, which puts responsibility for notifying parents of “sexually explicit content” on the school division.
by Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
Library books are now included with instructional materials in the King George County School Board’s policy IIA, which ensures parental notification of any material that includes sexually explicit content.
The School Board on Monday approved revisions to the policy, so that it now defines “instructional material” as “any content (including library materials and both primary and supplemental resources) used by one or more students for an educational purpose in connection with King George County Public Schools.”
The policy states that “King George County School Board ensures parental notification of any instructional material that includes sexually explicit content.”
It states that the superintendent is responsible for creating procedures for implementing the policy and that the procedures will include a process for informing parents of their right to opt their children out of using such material.
Deputy superintendent Troy Wright said the proposed revision would “in essence put parents and guardians in the drivers’ seat regarding their children.”
“This puts the onus of notifying parents on the school and then if there are questions, we would still deal with any questions and allow options,” he said.
A community member in December initiated challenges of 18 books in the King George Middle School library. The division had prepared a rubric that was intended to provide members of committees assembled to review the challenged books with a way to objectively rate them.
A committee of three used the rubric to review ttyl by Lauren Myracle earlier this month, and superintendent Jesse Boyd told the School Board on Monday that the experience “told us in a short amount of time that everyone is coming to these books with a different understanding, a different bias, a different viewpoint.”
He said school divisions across the state and country are figuring out how to deal with this issue.
“Some divisions are empowering parents and others are allowing the complainant to dictate curriculum or library books for the masses,” Boyd said. “I think to be safe and to move forward, we need to … empower parents.”
Several School Board members on Monday said they’d like to see policy IIA be more specific.
Matthew Roles, the James Monroe district representative, said he’d like the policy to state that the division “prohibits the use of sexually explicit material up through grade 8,” which he said the Isle of Wight County School Board’s policy has done.
Cathy Hoover, the James Madison district representative, said she would rather parents be able to “opt in” to allow their children to access instructional materials with sexually explicit materials rather than having to opt out.
But Chair and Shiloh district representative David Bush said the Board’s responsibility is policy, not process.
“I think we need to be careful about trying to micromanage,” he said. “We as a board need to develop policy and let administration decide how policy is going to be carried out.”
Boyd said the division is still working out its process for notifying parents of sexually explicit content in library books and acknowledged that it will be “a challenge for our librarians.”
The Board said that it would revisit policy IIA again at an upcoming meeting.
