Roberts
The Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. is continuing to deal with policy revisions following a particularly busy state legislative session this past spring.
The board will hold a public work session on policy at 5 p.m. Monday in the administration building boardroom, with school officials saying the main focus will be policies dealing with school library materials.
The Indiana General Assembly passed a law in the spring that requires public and charter school libraries to post a catalogue of their available materials on the school’s website and make a hard copy list available upon request.
Schools must also establish a formal complaint process for parents, guardians and community members “to submit a request to remove material from the school library that is obscene (as described in IC 35-49-2-1) or harmful to minors (as described in IC 35-49-2-2).”
Additionally, the new legislation removes schools from the list of entities with a statutory defense against prosecution for disseminating material “harmful to minors.” It also removes the defense that the material was shared for educational purposes, though defendants could still argue it was shared for “legitimate scientific purposes.”
BCSC officials are considering updates to three policies in accordance with the new law: 2510 — Adoption of Curricular Materials; 2520 — Selection of Curricular Materials, School Library Materials, and Equipment; and 9130 — Public Complaints and Concerns.
Most of the currently proposed changes to 2510 deal with requirements from other state legislation, including eliminating curricular fees and implementing science of reading curriculum for grades K-3.
There is also a section stating that the superintendent will implement administrative guidelines for the selection of curricular materials that “shall” or “may” include consultation with an advisory committee of parents and professional staff members “at all appropriate levels.”
The proposed changes to 2520 include a section stating that the superintendent will create a procedure for each school to prepare a catalogue of its library materials, with a copy on the school’s website and hard copies available upon request.
Additionally, the updated draft states that, “The Corporation shall not make available within the school library any materials that contain (1) obscene matter (as described in I.C. 35-49-2-1); or (2) matter harmful to minors (as described in I.C. 35-49-2-2). The procedure for a parent of a student enrolled in the school or a community member residing within the Corporation to submit a request to remove material that is obscene or harmful to minors is included in Policy 9130 — Public Complaints and Concerns (Subsection Matters Regarding Library Materials), including the process for response and appeal.”
As for Policy 9130, BCSC’s current version of the policy provides a process for addressing complaints about any instructional materials, including textbooks, library books, reference works and other instructional aids.
The proposed update from education policy consultant Neola, on the other hand, includes a process for complaints involving instructional materials, including library books, and a separate process for school library materials that are alleged to be obscene or harmful to minors.
In both cases, the policy update includes different options that the school board can choose from, as far as who initially reviews the request.
However, the state does require that, in the instance where the complainant appeals a decision regarding allegedly obscene or harmful library materials, the school board must review the request at its next public meeting.
“No challenged material may be removed from the curriculum or from a collection of resource materials except by action of the Board, unless the requester fails to appeal the review committee’s decision in a challenge to school library material, and no challenged material may be removed solely because it presents ideas that may be unpopular or offensive to some without it being obscene or harmful to minors,” the updated policy states. “Any Board action to remove material will be accompanied by the Board’s statement of its reasons for the removal.”
Superintendent Jim Roberts said that BCSC will try to be “as efficient as we can” on updating these three policies, as the legislative changes regarding school library materials go into effect on Jan. 1, 2024.
The above policies are just a few of the updates being considered by the school board. Roberts presented a docket of several policy revisions at Monday’s board meeting, stating that these were recommended by Neola following the recent legislative session.
“We thought it might be a legislative session that was a little more quiet on the education front, but it wasn’t,” he said.
The docket also includes revisions based on updated state law regarding topics such as third-party vendor surveys, school projects that involve activism, notifying parents if a child wishes to identify as a different gender, eliminating curricular fees, allowing stipends for mentorship, and prohibitions on teaching human sexuality in grades Pre-K to 3.
A few of the pending updates concern policies on background checks due to new legislation dealing with offenses that impact employment, mandatory reporting, and special approval of hires who have committed certain offenses.
In regards to the latter, the board may select one, both or neither of the following options:
1. The corporation may employ or contract with an individual convicted of any of the following offenses if the majority of the board approves the appointment as a separate, special agenda item:
A. Operating while intoxicated
B. Battery, unless it is a Class A, B, or C felony conviction (for a crime committed before July 1, 2014) or a Level 2, 3, or 5 felony conviction (for a crime committed after June 30, 2014)
C. Domestic battery, unless it is a Class A, B, or C felony conviction (for a crime committed before July 1,2014) or a Level 2, 3, or 5 felony conviction (for a crime committed after June 30, 2014)
D. Contributing to the delinquency of a minor
E. An offense involving a weapon under I.C. 35-47 or I.C. 35-47.5
F. An offense relating to controlled substances under I.C. 35-48-4, other than: 1) an offense involving marijuana or paraphernalia used to consume marijuana, or 2) an offense requiring license revocation under I.C. 20-28-5-8(c).
2. If the board approves the appointment as a separate, special agenda item, the school corporation may hire or contract with an individual:
A. who is required to wear an ankle monitor as the result of a criminal conviction
B. who entered into an agreement to settle an allegation of misconduct relating to the health, safety, or well-being of a student at a school corporation, charter school, or state-accredited nonpublic school, if the agreement included a nondisclosure agreement covering the alleged misconduct
C. who, in an academic environment, engaged in a course of conduct involving repeated or continuing contact with a child that is intended to prepare or condition the child for sexual activity (as defined in I.C. 35-42-4-13)
For both options, the board can decide which items it wishes to permit.
