A policy proposal at Upper Adams School District seeks to restrict materials containing sexual content, profanity, and content that “disparage[s] religious beliefs,” including classroom books purchased by teachers.
Concerns were raised at the March 19 school board meeting after teachers reportedly received an email from the administration asking teachers to submit a list of books in their classrooms for the board to approve.
Board member Marya Djalal described the March 11 email as “misleading” and said the board never made such a request. As a certified teacher herself, Djalal said to do so would be “insulting and demeaning” to the district’s teachers.
“Moreover, this controversy has served to drive an unnecessary wedge between the teachers and the school board,” Djalal said at Tuesday’s meeting, standing as she read from prepared remarks. “The board seeks clarity and consistency of the district policy on books because clear policies protect teachers, clear policies protect students and clear policies protect the rights of parents as the primary educators of their children.”
Superintendent Wesley Doll said in the meeting the book request is a separate matter from the proposed changes to Policy 109.1, Selection of Materials For Libraries/Media Centers. Doll in an email wrote that the district is continually updating the curriculum and at times needs to ask teachers about the materials they are using.
At the March 7 policy committee meeting, school board member Loren Lustig shared that he “and others” rewrote Policy 109.1 with changes they “feel need to be implemented,” according to the meeting minutes.
The proposal has since been tabled, board President Jim Lady said March 19, but he expects there will be more discussion in the future.
Proposed changes
The proposal rewrote much of the policy’s section on criteria for selection of materials in libraries/media centers. The proposal states library materials that “disparage religious beliefs” will be avoided and that the district will avoid library materials with sexual content or profanity.
Exceptions would need approval from the superintendent and principal, and such exceptions “shall be infrequent, not common.” Additionally, the proposal would require that the school board be informed of exceptions granted.
Materials concerning ideologies, including political ones, would be “factual and purposefully selected to avoid bias,” under the proposed changes. District media centers would be responsible for providing materials that “cover both sides” of issues that are a matter of “public debate,” the proposal states.
Under the proposal, students’ library records would not be kept confidential from their parents/guardians. The proposal states, “The library records of a minor student (under the age of 18), shall not, however, be kept confidential from that student’s parents/guardians, except in cases where doing so is required by law.”
When it comes to reviewing complaints about materials, the proposal would have fewer teachers involved in the process. Currently, the policy states that a written complaint will be reviewed by a materials review committee consisting of the principal, librarian(s), and two or three members of the teaching staff, including one from language arts and one “from the curriculum area or grade level in which the material is being used.”
Under the proposal, the committee reviewing complaints would be comprised of the principal and librarian(s). The proposal states the committee would include one language arts teacher and one teacher “from the curriculum area or grade level in which the material is being used” if the contested material was to be used for a class.
One proposed change would remove the word, “censorship” from the policy.
Under the section that states the purpose of the policy, the current policy reads, “In support of these objectives, the Upper Adams School District Board of Education has approved the following policy statement which includes … procedures for meeting the challenge of censorship of material in the school media centers.” The proposal would replace this with, “procedures for addressing concerns brought forward by students and/or their parents/guardians.”
The proposal would extend the scope of the entire policy to cover not only library and media center materials, but all print and digital media “for the use of or easily accessible to students.” This would include classroom books purchased by teachers, the proposal states.
Parents speak out
Two concerned parents, one of them a district teacher, spoke out against the proposed policy changes on Tuesday.
“I don’t want you to decide what my child can or cannot read,” Rachel Elliott said. “As a parent, I want to see the continued success of our schools. We can’t do that without the hard work and trust of our teachers and librarians.”
Elliott questioned the transparency of the board, noting that policy committee meetings take place at 9 a.m. when most people are at work. She asked that policy committee meetings be recorded and posted to the district’s YouTube channel like other board meetings.
Parent and teacher Kelly Pelc said highly-qualified teachers and librarians make decisions every day about the material their students can “handle,” based on their expertise. She suggested the number of parent complaints does not warrant such “drastic” policy changes.
Pelc teaches at Biglerville Elementary School, according to the district’s website.
“You trust me as a teacher to take a bullet for the children of this district,” Pelc said, “but these changes say that you don’t trust my ability to choose appropriate literature and media for those same students.”
The school board next meets April 2 at 6:30 p.m. for its extra curricular and business and operations committee meetings. The policy committee will meet April 4 at 9 a.m. The next board meeting will be April 16 at 7 p.m.
Mary Grace Kauffman, freelance reporter, worked six years as a full-time reporter for newspapers in Pennsylvania and Maryland. She has covered topics including business, crime, education, government and features. Mary Grace has a bachelor's degree in communication/journalism from Shippensburg University. She resides in Adams County.
“Materials concerning ideologies, including political ones, would be “factual and purposefully selected to avoid bias,” under the proposed changes. District media centers would be responsible for providing materials that “cover both sides” of issues that are a matter of “public debate,” the proposal states.”
Yes, what our schools really need is to make sure we have more pro-nazi and pro-segregation materials to make sure “both sides” get their due. Next week’s social studies lesson “Should women have rights? Who can really say.”