1.25 Instructional Materials Selection And Review

(See also Religion)

The Board of Education of Jenks Public Schools is legally responsible for all matters relating to the operation of the District including the selection and purchase of all print and non-print materials. The Board and the professional staff adhere to the philosophy and objectives of the District and the principles stated in the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights as the basis for their materials selection policies in addition to reflecting the District’s community standards for the population and ages of students the library serves. District instructional and resource materials should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all the students the school serves. Various points of view on current and historical issues should be included in District collections without regard to the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation. Books and other materials shall be selected in a manner ensuring materials available to students are adequate in quantity and quality to meet the needs of students in all areas of the school library media program. Materials are to be selected to meet the curriculum objectives. Materials are also to be selected to meet District core values as approved by the Board of Education. The District's core values are compassion, courage, inclusiveness, integrity, perseverance, respect, responsibility, self-discipline, teamwork, and sportsmanship.

The professional staff of the school seeks to meet the following objectives in materials selection:

  1. To provide materials that implement and support the approved curriculum scope and sequence and classroom activities;

  2. To provide materials that offer enrichment for the students, taking into consideration individual needs, interests, abilities, backgrounds, vocabulary, and are age-appropriate to the schools in which the materials are made available;

  3. To provide materials that attract students to performing, reading, viewing, writing, and listening as sources of information, pleasure, and recreation;

  4. To provide resource materials for the professional staff.

Definitions:

Instructional materials are items that by design serve as a major tool for assisting in the instruction of a subject, course, or activity. These items may be available in bound, unbound, kit, or package form and may consist of textbooks, consumables, learning laboratories, digital resources, and other instructional tools. 

Media materials are those print and non-print materials housed and/or cataloged in building media centers. This includes print materials, nonprint materials, multimedia resources, equipment, and supplies.

A patron is a student, the parent/guardian, or the guardian of a student directly involved with these materials.

Requirements for Review, Development, and Adoption

Administration, in collaboration with the staff, shall be responsible for providing a systemic process that will assure a cohesive, coherent foundation of learning for students. Administration, in collaboration with the staff, is responsible for the review, selection, and implementation of instructional materials. Instructional materials selection shall include consideration of desired student standards and objectives. 

Administration, in collaboration with the staff, shall be responsible for the development of a District scope and sequence for each curriculum core area. A textbook selection committee shall be appointed with representatives from each site. The textbook selection committee will be composed of teachers, administrators, and patrons as outlined in the Oklahoma Textbook Law (OS Title 70, Section 16-162). Patrons may review textbooks at the sites.

The selection procedure for other instructional materials will vary with the grade level, the grade span, and the scope of the material. Such materials may be previewed and selected by individual teachers, library media specialists, department or grade-level chairpersons, administrators, or jointly to meet curriculum objectives. In all cases, the procedure for the recommendation and purchase of such materials shall be approved by the building principal.

The materials for the school library media centers shall be selected by the library media specialist and approved by the building principal. Selection will be a cooperative, continuing process in which the library media specialist, administrators, teachers, and students participate. The basic factors influencing selection shall be the District curriculum as well as the interests, abilities, and backgrounds of the students using the library media center and the quality and accuracy of available materials.

By October 1st, the District shall annually transmit to the Oklahoma State Department of Education a complete listing of all books and other materials available in school library media centers across the district. An attestation from the Superintendent that a public online school library catalog(s) contains a complete and accurate list, along with the website for accessing the relevant school library media center catalog(s) shall fulfill this reporting requirement.

Criteria

  1. Textbooks and other instructional materials will be selected to meet the objectives of the scope and sequence. Underlying materials selection for both classrooms and library media centers is the idea that a wide range of materials enhancing the curriculum should be provided on varied levels of difficulty, with a diversity of appeal, and with presentations of different points of view.

  2. Library media center materials will be of high artistic/literary quality and superior form. Selection of these materials will consider stimulating presentation including imagination, vision, creativity, and style appropriate to the idea. Selection of materials will be made by consulting standard review sources and recommendation lists. 

  3. No school library media center or classroom library in the District shall have available to minor students any pornographic materials or sexualized content. Pornographic materials and sexualized content are defined as follows:


Pornographic means:

a. depictions or descriptions of sexual conduct that are patently offensive as found by the average person applying contemporary community standards, considering the youngest age of students with access to the material,

b. materials that, taken as a whole, have as the dominant theme an appeal to a prurient interest in sex as found by the average person applying contemporary community standards, and

c. a reasonable person would find the material or performance taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, educational, political, or scientific purposes or value, considering the youngest ages of students with access to the material.


Sexualized content means material that is not strictly pornographic but otherwise contains excessive sexual material in light of the educational value of the material and in light of the youngest age of students with access to said material. 

A student is not prohibited from reading, owning, possessing, or discussing any book they obtained without the assistance or encouragement of the District, its employees, or its libraries. Nothing in this policy should be construed to authorize the bringing of pornographic material or sexualized content on the grounds of the District.

  1. All non-print audiovisual materials, including digital and streamed content, must be previewed by professional staff prior to purchase.

  2. Gift materials may be accepted with the understanding that these materials must meet the same selection criteria as materials purchased with District funds and that the school will use the gift materials in accordance with the decisions of the appropriate personnel. Gift materials, once accepted, become the property of Jenks Public Schools.

Review of Instructional Materials

In order to promote transparency in the education process, the District’s instructional materials will be available for parent review. Instructional materials include items such as teacher manuals, audiovisual resources, and other supplementary materials regardless of format.

In order to review these materials, a parent should submit a written request to the Office of Teaching and Learning. The request must specify the class/subject, teacher, student’s name, and the types of items being requested for review. Within ten (10) business days, the Executive Director of Teaching and Learning will arrange for a mutually convenient time for the review or will notify the parent that a review cannot be permitted. If the parent’s request to review the material is declined, the Executive Director of Teaching and Learning will provide the parent with an explanation of why the material is not available. All reviews will be conducted between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. in the Education Service Center. Instructional materials may not be removed from the Education Service Center by the parent.

In the event the requested review is denied or after fifteen (15) business days with no response from the Executive Director of Teaching and Learning, the parent may request this information through the Board of Education in accordance with the District’s policy regarding parent rights.

Appeal Procedure

The Superintendent or designee will establish a Materials Review Committee. The committee will be provided information and training concerning the materials review process, the District’s selection policy, First Amendment Rights, and the American Library Association Library Bill of Rights. The committee will be comprised of seven (7) members from the categories below:

  • One (1) teacher and one (1) alternate from the elementary level;

  • One (1) teacher and one (1) alternate from the secondary level;

  • An administrator who will act as committee chair and one (1) alternate;

  • Two (2) representatives and one (1) alternate from the community;

  • Two (2) library media specialists and one (1) alternate.

Since there may be differing opinions concerning the usefulness and merits of selected materials, the following Board approved procedure will be followed:

A Jenks Public Schools patron may express to the principal, library media specialist, or teacher his/her concern regarding the usefulness and/or merits of materials. 

If the patron wants a review of the materials by the committee, he/she must file a written request to the principal by using the form entitled “Request for Reevaluation of Materials.” Forms may be obtained from the principal’s office. 

Within ten (10) business days of receipt, the principal will transmit the completed “Request for Reevaluation” to the chair of the Materials Review Committee, who will notify the committee regarding the need to meet and the title of the material in question, so that reading/viewing/listening of said material will be done prior to the actual meeting.

The chair will call the meeting in a timely fashion. The material in question shall remain available for public access during the entire appeals process. 

In order to give materials as objective an evaluation as possible, the content of the patron’s concerns will not be shared at this point in the process. 

The committee’s decision/recommendation concerning the challenged material should be one of the following: leave the material as it is making no restriction; recommend appropriate grade levels for placement of the material; remove the material.

The committee chairperson shall send a report conveying its decision to the patron, administrators, and library media specialists. 

If the patron or Jenks employee directly involved wishes to appeal the decision of the Materials Review Committee, he/she may file a written request to the Superintendent or designee. The appeal request must identify the review being appealed and the basis for the appeal. This request must be received within ten (10) business days of receipt of the Materials Review Committee report.

The Superintendent or designee will review the request and the Materials Review Committee report.

Within ten (10) business days of receipt of the request, the Superintendent or designee will notify the patron or employee of his/her decision in writing.

If the patron or Jenks employee directly involved requests further review by the Board of Education, the Superintendent or designee will forward all materials to the Clerk of the Board. The request for Board of Education review must be received within ten (10) business days or the Superintendent level decision stands.

The Board of Education shall hold a hearing to review the written report of the Review Committee, the Superintendent or designee’s written decision and the written request of appeal. 

The Board of Education shall make a final decision concerning the material being reviewed at a special hearing or at the next regularly scheduled meeting. Following the decision, the Superintendent shall inform all persons involved, in writing.

Once the material has been adopted and reevaluated, it cannot be subject to further review for the same objection without special approval of the Board of Education.  Documentation of the proceedings will include committee findings in their entirety. Documentation will be available for public review.

A parent/guardian of a student alleging a violation by the District regarding requirements pertaining to its library collection pursuant to the Oklahoma Administrative Code 210: 35-3-126(a), shall provide a written complaint to the Oklahoma State Department of Education summarizing the alleged violation.

Reference: 

Okla. Stat. tit. 70, § 11-201

O.A.C. 210: 35-3-121

O.A.C. 210: 35-3-126

Revised by the Board of Education May 2006

Revised May 2012

Revised July 2014

Revised June 2015

Revised April 2016

Revised June 2019

Revised June 2022

Revised September 2022

Revised April 2023

Revised September 2023