| The School Board of Pasco County |
| Bylaws & Policies |
2520 - SELECTION OF INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT
The Board shall provide instructional materials and equipment, within budgetary constraints, to implement the District's educational goals and objectives and to meet students' needs. The primary objective of such instructional materials and equipment shall be to enrich, support, and implement the educational program of the school.
The Superintendent shall develop administrative procedures for the selection and maintenance of all educational and instructional materials and equipment.
Instructional Materials: Questioned Materials
When a citizen disagrees with the materials being used in the instructional program of the District, the procedure is as follows:
| A. | Complete, in duplicate, the "Request for Review of Instructional Materials" form that is available from the principal at any school or from the District office. | |
| B. | Submit the completed form to the principal of the school in which the questioned materials are located or being utilized. | |
| C. | Principal will schedule a review within thirty (30) school days. The review committee shall be composed of two (2) administrators, two (2) teachers, and four (4) lay citizens (if possible, parents of school-aged children). | |
| D. | Attend the review committee meeting(s) as scheduled by the principal of that school. | |
| E. | If after the meeting with the review committee the citizen feels dissatisfied with the results of that committee, he must inform the principal in writing of his intent to pursue a District review. The notification must be submitted within ten (10) days. | |
| F. | The principal immediately forwards the written documentation and all other pertinent information to the Superintendent. | |
| G. | The Superintendent or the Superintendent's designee then convenes, within thirty (30) days, a District review committee which is representative of the total District. The review committee shall be composed of two (2) administrators, two (2) teachers, and four (4) lay citizens (if possible, parents of school age children). | |
| H. | The District review committee will convene and report its findings directly to the Superintendent. | |
| I. | If there is still dissatification with the results of the District review, the citizen may request to be on the Board agenda. The request should be in writing and submitted to the Superintendent within ten (10) school days. A complainant who does not submit the written request within the deadline will receive no further consideration. | |
| J. | The Superintendent presents the report of the District review committee to the Board and makes recommendations for action. | |
| K. | The final decision is determined by the Board. |
When challenged materials are being reviewed, each member of the various committees established for reviewing should be familiar with the following criteria, and these criteria should be applied to the evaluation of the challenged materials.
Evaluative Criteria
| A. | Consideration should be given to the following criteria on any item that is subjected to review: |
| 1. | The materials are essential and appropriate for the development of the curriculum and school objectives. | ||
| 2. | The materials are factually accurate and appropriate in presentation. | ||
| 3. | The materials contribute to literary appreciation or have cultural value. | ||
| 4. | The materials are pertinent because of their content or emphasis. | ||
| 5. | The authors are competent and qualified in the field. | ||
| 6. | The materials on controversial issues represent both sides of the issue in an objective way. | ||
| 7. | Materials concerned with human growth and development and sex should be based on scientific accuracy, simplicity, dignity of presentation, and appropriateness for the age group. |
| B. | Programs for academically talented and advanced students have made it necessary to purchase materials that may be considered adult. This type of material should be selected on the basis of the students' needs as well as being those that will stimulate new interests in the cultural, economic, scientific, and social fields. The inclusion of particular words, phrases, and sentences should not prevent utilization of these items if they represent a major contribution to a subject field and are within the ability of the student to handle. | |
| C. | The following subjects have generally been topics of criticism. Evaluation criteria useful in these areas are included to provide insight into considerations that should be made when reviewing materials on these topics: |
| 1. | Religion - The material should be factual, unbiased, and representative of all major religions and should be in the materials collection. | ||
| 2. | Ideologies - The materials should contain basic, factual information on the appropriate level on any ideology and philosophy which exerts a strong force, either favorable or unfavorable, in government, current events, politics, education, or any phase of life. | ||
| 3. | Sex and Profanity - Materials which have an accent on sex should pass the test of literary merit and reality and be appropriate for the age level of the user. The fact that sexual incidents or profanity are included should not automatically disqualify an item. The decision to include the item in the materials collection should be made on the basis of whether it presents life in its true proportions, whether the circumstances are realistically dealt with, and whether the item is of literary value. Factual material on an educational nature on the appropriate level should be available in the materials collection. | ||
| 4. | Science - Medical and scientific knowledge should be made available without any biased selection of facts. | ||
| 5. | No books or other material prohibited by Florida statutes shall be used. |
Charges for Instructional Materials
Students and a parent(s)/guardian(s) shall be held responsible for the cost of replacing any materials or property which are lost or damaged through their negligence in accordance with State statute.
There may also be charges for materials used in those activities beyond the basic curriculum in which a student elects to participate, particularly in activities where the product becomes the property of the student.
Free School-Related Instructional Materials
Free instructional materials may be accepted for classroom and school purposes under conditions that meet all the following criteria:
| A. | The initiative for securing the materials should be of the type that teachers seek rather than materials forwarded to them to promote the interests of an outside agency. | |
| B. | The materials should fill a legitimate purpose of the school curriculum. | |
| C. | The advertising feature of the materials should be minimized. |
Sale of Instructional Materials
The school principal, upon request of the parent of a student in the school, shall sell to the parent any instructional materials used in the school.
All such sales shall be made pursuant to rules adopted by the Board, and the principal shall annually provide information to parents that they may purchase instructional materials and how to purchase the materials.Equipment or Instructional Materials
The principal may permit sales representatives to demonstrate and show only that equipment and instructional materials which can be used to improve the instructional program and which are under consideration for purchase by the school.
F.S. 1001.41, 1001.42, 1006.28, 1006.34, 1006.42