School District Moves Forward on Book Policy

By Cara McCoy

Thursday, April 3, 2008

A Loudoun County School Board committee took another step Wednesday toward adopting new guidelines for dealing with challenges to library materials.

Under the policy, which was proposed last month by school board Chairman Robert F. DuPree Jr. (Dulles) and approved Wednesday by the committee's five members, the school board would be more involved in any decision regarding the removal of materials from school libraries.

"What we're doing is making sure that if there is any restriction at a county-wide level, A) the school board will be notified; B) the public will be notified; and C) we're then providing a means by which the school board can take up such issue," DuPree said. "This will provide the ability for the school board to exercise its authority to review any decision to restrict. And I think that's a good thing."

Other committee members include policy committee chairman John Stevens (Potomac), Tom Reed (At-Large), Bob Ohneiser (Broad Run) and Tom Marshall (Leesburg).

The changes were sparked by recent controversy over a children's book, "And Tango Makes Three," about two male penguins that hatch an egg and raise a chick. The book was removed from Loudoun elementary schools, then returned after Superintendent Edgar B. Hatrick III said he had "exceeded the authority" given to him by the board.

Under the guidelines approved Wednesday, in any instance that the superintendent decides to restrict access to library materials, the school board will be notified and can elect to review the decision.

Any parent or legal guardian of a child enrolled in Loudoun County Public Schools may request a review of material accessible to their child. That request must be made to the principal of the school the student attends.

The principal could decide that the book should either remain in circulation, be sent to a school with higher grade levels, be removed from circulation or be accessible only to teachers and staff. The principal must notify the parent of his or her decision within 30 calendar days of receiving the request for review.

The parent then would have the option of appealing the principal's decision to the superintendent within 15 days of receiving the principal's decision. The superintendent would appoint a review committee, and the committee would recommend a course of action.

The superintendent then must notify the parent of the decision within 30 days of receiving the appeal, and that decision would apply to all schools at that grade level throughout the district.

The superintendent also must notify the school board, which would have the option of forming a three-member review committee that would make the final decision about restricting access to materials.

"There's only been two or three such division-wide decisions in the last five years, so it's not like we've had an abundance of them," DuPree said.

The school board's policy on challenged materials has not been revised since 1993.

Carrie Clark, Loudoun Education Association vice president and a special education teacher at Legacy Elementary, said after the meeting that she liked the review process.

"I think it will help streamline our book policy and keep things in circulation that need to be kept in circulation," she said.

The full school board is expected to vote on the proposed guidelines in May.

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