Frequently Asked Questions

“Instructional material” is defined as content that conveys the essential knowledge and skills of a subject in the public school curriculum through a medium or a combination of media for conveying information to a student. The term includes:

a book, supplementary materials, a combination of a book, workbook, and supplementary materials, computer software, magnetic media, DVD, CD-ROM, computer courseware, online services, or an electronic medium, or other means of conveying information to the student or otherwise contributing to the learning process through electronic means, including open education resource instructional material. Education Code 31.002(1)

Selection of resources is an ongoing process that includes the removal of resources no longer appropriate and the periodic replacement or repair of resources that still have educational value.

Resources must follow the EF Local policy guidelines, which include:

• Support and are consistent with the general educational goals of the state and District and the aims and objectives of individual schools and specific courses consistent with the District and campus improvement plans.
• Meet high standards for artistic quality and/or literary style, authenticity, educational significance, factual content, physical format, presentation, readability, and technical quality.
• Are appropriate for the subject area and for the age, ability level, learning styles, and social and emotional development of the students for whom they are selected.
• Are designed to help students gain an awareness of our pluralistic society.
• Are designed to provide information that will motivate students and staff to examine their own attitudes and behavior; to understand their duties, responsibilities, rights, and privileges as citizens participating in our society; and to make informed choices in their daily lives.
• For library selections, are integral to the instructional program, are appropriate for the reading levels and understanding of students, reflect the interests and needs of the students and faculty, are included because of their literary or artistic value and merit, and present information with the greatest degree of accuracy and clarity.

• Ask to meet with your child's teacher or librarian to discuss instructional resources that best meet the needs of your child.
• Ask your child's teacher to share the instructional resources used in the classroom. Discuss your concerns with the classroom teacher and request alternative resources or assignments as needed.
• Provide your child’s librarian with a customized list of library resources you would like your child to check out from the library.
• Contact your child’s principal if you believe a resource is inappropriate for all students (not just your child). You must have read the resource in its entirety.

• The principal or designee will explain the school’s selection process, the criteria for selection, and the qualifications of the professional staff who selected the questioned resource.
• The principal or designee will explain the intended educational purpose of the resource and any additional information regarding its use.
• 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.
• If the complainant wishes to make a formal challenge, the principal or designee will provide the complainant a copy of EF Local policy and a form to request a formal reconsideration of the resource.

A complainant shall make any formal objection to an instructional resource on the form provided by the District and shall submit the completed and signed form to the principal or designee. This form requires confirmation that complainant has read the resource entirely and must specify the content to which they object.

Upon receipt of the form, the principal or designee 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. It is Lewisville ISD's practice to include 1 or more parents on the review committee.

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. 

A parent of a District student, any employee, or any District resident may formally challenge an instructional resource used in the District’s educational program on the basis of appropriateness.

The complainant must have read the resource in its entirety and clearly identify the content to which they object. 

Yes. All committee members are required to read the book.

If we have enough copies of the book in the District, we collect copies of the book and distribute them to the committee members. If we do not have enough copies, we must use District funds to purchase copies of the book.

Yes. The complainant may appeal the decision of the reconsideration committee in accordance with appropriate complaint policies, starting with the appropriate administrator, in accordance with policies DGBA, FNG, or GF.

Students’ First Amendment rights guide school districts on the removal of books from a school library. The committee must determine if the book is “pervasively vulgar.” To determine pervasiveness, the committee members must read the entire book.

Once a resource has been made available in a school library, removal of the resource implicates students’ First Amendment rights. While the school district has discretion on which books it brings into its library, once a book is in the library there are legal limits on what can be removed.

According to the U.S. Supreme Court in a 1982 decision, the First Amendment rights of students may be “directly and sharply” implicated by the removal of books from the shelves of a school library. Bd. of Educ., Island Trees Union Free Sch. Dist. No. 26 v. Pico, 457 U.S. 853 (1982).

The Court, in that case, informed us that there is a meaningful difference between the curriculum conveyed in a compulsory setting and the school library, which is a place for “voluntary inquiry.” The Court made clear that state and local discretion may not be exercised in a way that violates students’ free speech rights by removing books for partisan or political reasons: “In brief, we hold that local school boards may not remove books from school library shelves simply because they dislike the ideas contained in those books and seek by their removal to ‘prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion.’” Pico, 457 U.S. at 872. 

Students’ First Amendment rights are implicated by the removal of books from the shelves of a school library. A school district cannot remove materials from a library for the purpose of denying students 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. Bd. of Educ. v. Pico, 457 U.S. 853 (1982)

The committee decides if a book is not educationally suitable or pervasively vulgar by working through a series of questions in the areas of appropriateness, content, review/evaluations, and purpose. When the book is non-fiction, the committee also considers the authenticity of the book. 

School Librarians are highly-trained and certified by the state of Texas in the selection of materials for children and young adults. Books are chosen based upon the needs of the district-adopted curriculum, personal interests of students, and recommendation by staff, students, and parents. Selection criteria includes:

• Support and are consistent with the general educational goals of the state and District and the aims and objectives of individual schools and specific courses consistent with the District and campus improvement plans.
• Meet high standards for artistic quality and/or literary style, authenticity, educational significance, factual content, physical format, presentation, readability, and technical quality.
• Are appropriate for the subject area and for the age, ability level, learning styles, and social and emotional development of the students for whom they are selected.
• Are designed to help students gain an awareness of our pluralistic society.
• Are designed to provide information that will motivate students and staff to examine their own attitudes and behavior; to understand their duties, responsibilities, rights, and privileges as citizens participating in our society; and to make informed choices in their daily lives.
• For library selections, are integral to the instructional program, are appropriate for the reading levels and understanding of students, reflect the interests and needs of the students and faculty, are included because of their literary or artistic value and merit, and present information with the greatest degree of accuracy and clarity.

School Librarians read and evaluate peer-reviewed resources from professional journals such as School Library Journal, Booklist, and Publisher’s Weekly to determine if a book meets the criteria of at least two favorable reviews recommending for the age of children at their campus.

A classroom library is a set of books that are housed in a teacher’s classroom. Books for the classroom are purchased in a variety of ways such as district funds, campus funds, PTA, teacher’s personal money, etc. Typically these books are available for students to read independently or use in the instructional setting.
 
In curating a classroom library, LISD teachers will…

• Consider the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills as well as the district and campus improvement plans when choosing and reviewing books for the classroom library (i.e. multiple genres, diverse and/or cross-curricular content, student interest, perspective, grade-appropriate texts).
• Include a variety of books in classroom libraries to provide various entry points for readers that encourage and challenge students to continue exploring multiple genres, topics, and increasingly complex texts.
• Ensure that all books in the classroom library are appropriate for the age of the student, both through content and readability. Teachers must ensure that texts included in their classroom library meet the maturity, ability, and interest of students in their classroom.
• Include a variety of books that are designed to help students gain awareness of our pluralistic society, including a wide variety of diverse literature.
  • Balanced classroom libraries include narrative and expository texts, a wide variety of genres, different types of main characters, and books that are relevant to students' cultural backgrounds and communities. 

Teachers will partner with families to ensure that students choose books that were just right for them.