INSIDE INFORMATION
COMPILED BY CLAIRE SHOOP
2022 EDUCATION EDITION
RECENT REVIEW
POLICY CHANGES
As a result of parent concerns, the LISD board of trustees adopted local policy changes surrounding the selection of instructional materials in summer 2021. The district had until the end of the 2021-22 school year to implement the changes. The revised language states the texts selected should present:
In December, Leander ISD’s Community Curriculum Advisory Committee completed a review of high school book club titles following parent concerns that “inappropriate” books were allowed as options.
OLD LANGUAGE
NEW LANGUAGE
PARENT INVOLVEMENT
Additionally, the policy states that middle and high school parents and guardians will be provided notice of possible reading selections, including titles, summaries, and potential sensitive topics or themes.
… various sides of controversial issues so that students have an opportunity to develop, under guidance, skills in critical analysis and in making informed judgments in their daily lives.
… multiple viewpoints related to controversial issues to foster critical thinking skills and encourage discussion based on rational analysis. The policy added that resources containing sensitive content, including sexuality, violence or profanity, would be reviewed.
What is a book club?
LISD encourages a mix of whole-class reading, book club reading and independent reading as part of middle and high school English-language arts curriculum.
Book clubs are student-led, small groups that meet to discuss a book they all read or listened to with the hope of sharing insight and building a deeper understanding. Students select their top choices from a list of district-approved books before teachers assign books to the groups.
CHALLENGE PROCESS
Parents, guardians, current students, employees or anyone living within LISD boundaries can challenge an instructional resource on the basis of appropriateness, according to district policy. There are two challenge processes.
Find a list of approved book club books here: www.leanderisd.org/englishlanguagearts_ middlehighschoolinstructionalmaterials
INFORMAL RECONSIDERATION
A school that receives a complaint about the appropriateness of material will resolve it using the following steps:
Removed books
STEP 1
STEP 2
STEP 3
STEP 4
Explain the selection process of the resource in question
Explain the educational purpose of the resource
Oer an alternative instructional resource, if appropriate
Provide complainant with a copy of district policy and a form for reconsideration
LISD’s review resulted in removing 11 books from classroom libraries and student-choice book clubs, but these books are still available in school libraries.
• “Brave Face: A Memoir” by Shaun David Hutchinson • “The Handmaid’s Tale: The Graphic Novel” by Margaret Atwood and Renee Nault • “In the Dream House: A Memoir” by Carmen Maria Machado • “None of the Above” by I.W. Gregorio • “The Nowhere Girls” by Amy Lynn Reed • “Out of Darkness” by Ashley Hope Perez • “Red at the Bone” by Jacqueline Woodson • “Shirley Jackson’s ‘The Lottery’: The Authorized Graphic Adaptation” by Myles Hyman • “Shout” by Laurie Halse Anderson • “V is for Vendetta” by Alan Moore • “Y: The Last Man Book One” by Brian K. Vaughan
FORMAL RECONSIDERATION
Formal reconsiderations should be made using the district’s digital form. Upon receiving the form, the superintendent or designee appoints a reconsideration committee made up of: • a principal or designee from the school receiving the complaint; • a librarian; • two teachers at that grade level from dierent campuses; • a representative from LISD’s teaching and learning department to chair the committee and be a nonvoting member; and • four parents from campuses at that grade level.
The committee will review the challenged resource and meet to determine whether it meets the principles outlined for instructional materials in district policy. The committee then prepares a written report to share with the principal, superintendent and complainant. LISD policy states that a parent’s ability to exercise control over matters extends to their child and that challenged resources will still be available during the reconsideration process. No challenged resource will be removed based solely on the ideas it expresses, according to the policy.
SOURCE: LEANDER ISDCOMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
SOURCE: LEANDER ISDCOMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
Cedar Park • 512.284.9874 200 Buttercup Creek Blvd., Suite 122 CordovanArtSchool.com
21
CEDAR PARK LEANDER EDITION • AUGUST 2022
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