How to Challenge a Book in Rockwood

On occasion, honest differences of opinion may arise about books or materials used in the public schools. Any resident or employee of the district may formally challenge learning resources used in the District’s educational program on the basis of appropriateness.

Principals, in consultation with district curriculum department staff, may approve appropriate supplementary materials. This regulation addresses complaints about materials (Board and administration approved), not the curricular standards, assessments, primary text, or the instructional methodology. Curriculum approval follows a specific process that includes multiple opportunities for feedback.

Building Communication Procedures for Challenging Materials

Any resident or employee of the district may raise objection to learning resources used in a school’s educational program despite the fact that the individuals selecting such resources were duly qualified to make the selection, followed the proper procedure, and observed the criteria for selecting learning resources. Each school will maintain the district’s “Challenged Materials” form to distribute to an individual wishing to make a formal challenge to a district learning resource.

Each school will keep on hand and make available Challenged Materials forms. All formal objections to learning resources must be made on these forms. The staff should be reminded that the right to object to learning resources is one granted by Board policy.

The Board recognizes that parent(s)/guardian(s) have the right to determine that individual materials in the library media center collection or of a supplementary nature may not be appropriate for their child. Parent(s)/guardian(s) requests that such material not be given to their children shall be honored. The principal, after consulting with the appropriate staff and the parent(s)/guardian(s), will make every effort to provide alternative supplementary materials that meet the curriculum or assigned requirements yet still meeting the fiscal responsibility of the district. No parent(s)/guardian(s) have the right to determine reading, viewing or listening matter for students other than their own children.

Access to challenged material shall not be restricted during the reconsideration process.

In considering a challenge, the major criterion for the final decision is the appropriateness of the material for its intended educational use. A decision to sustain a challenge shall not necessarily be interpreted as a judgment of irresponsibility on the part of the professionals involved in the original selection and/or use of the material.

Request for Informal Reconsideration

Questioners should first attempt to reach out to their child’s teacher to discuss their concerns with the use of the materials in the classroom.
If the questioner does not feel the issue has been resolved, the use of the materials may then be brought to the attention of the principal. The principal and other appropriate staff member(s) shall explain to the questioner the school’s selection procedure, criteria and qualifications of those persons selecting the resource. The principal and other appropriate staff member(s) shall explain the particular place the questioned resource occupies in the educational program, its intended educational usefulness, and additional information regarding its use, or refer the party to someone who can identify and explain the use of the resource.
If the questioner wishes to file a formal challenge, a copy of the district’s Procedures for Challenging Materials and a “Challenged Materials” form shall be handed or mailed to the concerned party by the principal and returned within a 14-calendar day period.
The “Challenged Materials” form shall be signed by the questioner and filed with the Superintendent or his/her designees. The formal request must be received within a 14-calendar day period after the form has been given or mailed to the individual seeking a challenge.
The Superintendent or his/her designee shall inform the principal of the school upon receipt of the form.
The Challenged Materials request shall be referred to a Challenged Materials Committee for reevaluation of the resource. The Superintendent and his/her designee will arrange for a Challenged Materials Committee reevaluation meeting within thirty (30) calendar days.

The Challenged Materials Committee

Upon receipt of a request for formal reconsideration of a learning resource, the Superintendent or his/her designee in conjunction with the principal shall appoint a Challenged Materials Committee including the following membership as appropriate:

Parent/guardian or patron who filed the complaint
Three members of the school teaching staff who are assigned to the grade level or subject area for which the challenged material was selected
Two students (for high school only)
Two library media specialists (one library media specialists from the school of the challenged material and one from another school in the district). The library media specialists selected from another school in the District shall represent the same grade level(s) as the library media specialist from the school of the challenged materials.
A Board of Education member
Four lay persons, two of whom will be parents of students at that level. The other two may be curricular experts or other experts in the field of education. The selection process will occur as follows:

An email will be sent to parents on PTO’s and curriculum adoption committees, at the appropriate level explaining process and requesting volunteers
If fewer volunteers than needed respond, other building parent involvement groups will be approached, as well as parent representatives from Strategic Planning Committees.
A principal from the school of the challenged material.

The Curriculum Coordinator for the identified content area
Other committee members as deemed appropriate by the Superintendent or his/her designee.

The Superintendent or his/her designee shall serve as the chairperson of the Reconsideration Committee. The committee chairperson will be the only member of the Reconsideration Committee allowed to review the complaint form initially. All committee members will be allowed to review the complaint form after they have examined and/or read the challenged material.

The Challenged Materials Committee shall examine and/or read the challenged resource and judge whether it conforms to the principles of selection outlined in the district’s Selection Criteria for Learning Resources procedures.

Resolution

The Challenged Materials Committee shall:

Examine and/or read the challenged resource;
Determine professional acceptance by reading critical reviews resource;
Weigh positives and negatives and form opinions based on the material as a whole rather than on passages or sections taken out of context;
Discuss the challenged resource in the context of the educational program;
Prepare a written report which states the decision, rationale for the decision, and the official vote (without identifying votes of individual members of the committee).
Recommend that the questioned materials be retained without restriction; retained with restriction; or not retainedThe written report, along with a letter outlining appeal processes, shall be mailed to the questioner within five days of the Challenged Materials Committee’s conclusion.

The written report prepared by the Challenged Materials Committee chairperson shall be retained by all district library media specialists. Any material, once upheld from challenge, cannot be re-challenged for five years. A copy of the report will be available to the public upon request. The district reserves the right to charge for copies of the reconsideration.

The decision of the Challenged Materials Committee is binding for the individual school as well as other schools at that level (i.e., all elementary, middle and high schools). All decisions of Challenged Materials Committee shall be provided to the Board (at a regularly scheduled meeting) designated as an informational item.

Notwithstanding any procedure outlined in this Regulation, the questioner, other members of the community not originally involved in the initial complaint or any member of the community shall have the right to appeal any decision of the Challenged Materials Committee in writing to the Board as the final review panel. To appeal, the questioner or other member of the community has fourteen (14) calendar days from the date of the written report to send a letter to the Board appealing the decision of the Challenged Materials Committee. Upon appeal, the Board will review the Challenged Materials appeal request and render a decision.

How to Appeal a Challenged Book in Rockwood

Challenge Appeal Process

The purpose of the Board of Education Appeal process is to ensure that the process for Challenged Materials was undertaken in the fashion so designated within the policy and regulation. The appeal process is not designed to circumvent the Challenge Committee recommendation but to ensure that the process was undertaken in a fair and unbiased manner. The Board of Education reserves the right to modify this process at any time.

Appeal Process Committee

Committee of the Board of Education not to exceed three Board of Education members and the Assistant Superintendent of Learning and Support Services.
Presented by the Assistant Superintendent of Learning and Support Services and the Board of Education member who served on the Review Committee.

Appeal Process

The BOE appeal committee may meet either in person or via zoom within thirty days of the appeal being filed.
The appeal will be heard by the group with an executive summary of the Challenge Committee findings will be presented by the Assistant Superintendent of Learning and Support Services.
The group will hear both the Challenge committee’s consensus findings and any dissenting opinions offered during the Challenge committee’s deliberation.
The BOE appeal committee will come to consensus on its findings and will give a report to the Board of Education with a recommendation.
Recommendations will be as follows:

Uphold the findings of the Challenge Committee process
Modify the recommendations from the Challenge Committee
Take no action

The BOE appeal recommendation will be placed on the next BOE meeting agenda as a consent agenda item.
The BOE decision will be final and the book or challenged materials can not be brought back to the process for five years.
A written report will be kept for the record and given to the appellate.