Reconsideration of Instructional & Library Material

Whether textbooks, library books, or digital educational applications, Lewisville ISD is dedicated to providing exceptional, age-appropriate resources for all students. 

Instructional resources are selected to meet the requirements of Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) and the needs of the District adopted curriculum. Additionally, library books are chosen based on the support they can provide ot the curriculum, personal interests of students, and recommendations by employees, parents, and students.

Student’s First Amendment rights are implicated by the removal of books from the shelves of a school library. LISD does not remove materials from a library for the purpose of denying student access to ideas with which the district disagrees. A district may remove materials because they are pervasively vulgar or based solely upon the educational suitability of the books in question.

If a District employee or parent/guardian of a District student has a concern about instructional resources or library material, the following steps will occur:

1. The principal or designee shall explain the school’s selection process, the criteria for selection, and the qualifications of the professional staff who selected the questioned resource.

2. The principal or designee shall explain the intended educational purpose of the resource and any additional information regarding its use.

3. If appropriate, the principal or designee may offer a concerned parent an alternative instructional resource to be used by that parent’s child in place of the challenged resource.

4. If the complainant wishes to make a formal challenge, the principal or designee shall provide the complainant a copy of board policy and the LISD electronic form to request a formal reconsideration of the resource.

Formal Reconsideration

After meeting with campus principal, if a person wants to pursue a complainant formally, they shall make any formal objection to an instructional resource on the form provided by the District and shall submit the completed and signed form online. Upon receipt of the form, the principal shall appoint a reconsideration committee.

The reconsideration committee shall include at least one member of the instructional staff who has experience using the challenged resource with students or is familiar with the challenged resource’s content. Other members of the committee may include District- level staff, library staff, secondary-level students, parents, and any other appropriate individuals.

All members of the committee shall review the challenged resource in its entirety. As soon as reasonably possible, the committee shall meet and determine whether the challenged resource conforms to the principles of selection set out in this policy. The committee shall prepare a written report of its findings and provide copies to the principal, the Superintendent or designee, and the complainant.

After a library material has been reviewed through the formal reconsideration process, it cannot be reviewed again with two calendar years of the reconsideration committee’s final decision.