HomeMy WebLinkAbout2540 Selection and Adoption of Curricular Materials
INSTRUCTION 2540
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SELECTION AND ADOPTION OF CURRICULAR MATERIALS
The Bonneville Joint School District Board of Trustees has the statutory responsibility to
approve and provide textbooks and other necessary curricular materials for student and
teacher use in the District. The Board recognizes the need to balance the rights of
students to have access to many different types of books and materials and the right of
teachers and administrators to select books and other materials in accordance with
current trends in education. Therefore, it is the policy of the Board of Trustees to require
that textbooks and curricular materials support instruction and learning of essential
standards by:
1. Stimulating growth in knowledge, literary appreciation, aesthetic value, and ethical
standards;
2. Providing background information to essential knowledge, skills, and dispositions;
3. Presenting diverse views of controversial issues;
4. Representing diverse religious, ethnic, and cultural groups and their contributions to
our American heritage;
5. Depicting the cultural diversity and pluralistic nature of American society without bias
or prejudice.
Guidelines
1. The Director of Instruction and Learning is responsible to review and select all
textbooks and supplemental curricular materials to be adopted as the primary
curricular resource in all District schools.
2. For textbook adoptions the Director of Instruction and Learning will chair a
committee composed of parents, administrators, teachers, and professional staff to
review proposed materials and make recommendations to the Board of Trustees for
the adoption pursuant to Idaho Code §33-512A.
a. At least one-half (1/2) of this committee must include persons other than public
educators and trustees.
b. Shall include parents of a child or children attending a school or schools within
the school district.
c. All meetings of the committee shall be held in open session and be duly noticed.
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d. Any person may submit oral or written objections to any curricular materials
under consideration.
e. The district shall have on hand and available to the public the titles, authors and
publishers of all curricular materials being used in the district. The public has the
right to inspect the instructional materials except students’ tests, used in the
district’s schools.
f. All materials will be reviewed and selected based on readability and their
capacity to provide appropriate connections of content material from
grade-to-grade, and particularly from school-to-school.
g. Recommendations for textbook and curricular material adoptions must fall within
the amount allocated within the approved District budget for that fiscal year.
3. Final decision for adoption of curricular materials shall rest with the Board of
Trustees, after a careful examination and discussion with school officials and
patrons.
Selection of Textbooks and Curricular Materials for Dual Credit Classes
1. The Board recognizes that dual credit classes are considered to be university
courses that are subject to the policies of the sponsoring university. As university
courses, the primary responsibility for approval of curricular materials for dual credit
classes lies with the sponsoring university.
2. Before a class may be offered to students for dual credit, the teacher designated to
teach any section of that class must submit the syllabus for the class to the Director
of Instruction and Learning for approval. Approval to offer the class should be
received before submitting the syllabus to the sponsoring university for approval.
3. The syllabus for each course will be made available to all students and parents who
enroll in the course or who request it prior to enrolling in the class. The syllabus must
clearly identify all curricular materials that students will be required to read, view, or
otherwise engage with. All curricular materials will be made available to the students
and the parents to preview. The syllabus for every dual credit course should include
the following statement:
“As a university course, parents and students may not be entitled to the same
accommodations as can be provided in a regular high school course. Requests to
withdraw from curriculum or assignments in dual credit classes pursuant to Idaho
Code 33-6001 and Board Policy 2428 Parental Rights; may prevent students from
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earning college credits; however, students will still be provided the opportunity to
earn high school credit.”
4. Students in dual credit courses may be responsible for the purchase of curricular
materials for individual use.
Process for Purchasing Curricular Materials
1. Teachers should not purchase curricular materials for use by students from their own
personal funds. All curricular materials, including those to be used in dual credit
classes, must be purchased from school or District funds. Exceptions to this must
first be approved by the building principal in writing.
2. In order to purchase supplementary materials, a teacher or team of teachers must
first search the list of approved supplemental curricular materials.
a. If the material is in the list of approved supplemental curricular materials, staff
members can proceed with the purchase since the material is already approved
by completing the Textbook Requisition Form.
b. If the requested curricular materials have not previously been approved, then
Board approval must be requested by completing the Supplemental Curricular
Form.
3. The review process will include approval from the building principal and the Director
of Instruction and Learning. Approved materials will be submitted to the Board of
Trustees for final approval.
a. Following Board approved, the teacher can then complete the Textbook
Requisition Form or use other funds to purchase the material.
b. If the material is not recommended for approval, the principal and teacher or
team of teachers will be notified. If a request has been denied, teachers can
request approval from the Board by requesting the material be included on the
next Board meeting as an action item. Teachers will be given the opportunity to
present their rationale for use of the curricular materials directly to the Board of
Trustees.
Objections to Use of Curricular Materials
Parents have the right to object to curricular materials and request alternative
assignments pursuant to Board Policy 2428 Parental Rights and Idaho Code 33-6001.
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The provisions of this policy and statute do not necessarily apply to courses taken for
college credit.
1. Citizens objecting to specific materials used in the District are encouraged to submit
a complaint in writing on Form 2500F Statement of Concern about Curriculum/Media
Resources and discuss the complaint with the building principal/designee prior to
pursuing a formal complaint.
Process for Objections to Use of Curricular Materials
1. Parent/Guardian or staff objecting to specific materials used in the District are
encouraged to submit a complaint in writing on Form #2500F Statement of Concern
about Curriculum/Media Resources. The challenged material will be temporarily
removed to allow the Instructional Materials Review Committee to study the
complete text, media, or content of the material in question.
2. Within five (5) school days of the receipt of the complaint, the Director of Instruction
and Learning forms an Instructional Materials Committee.
a. The committee will be composed of the following individuals:
i. two members of the district’s current Instruction and Learning Team
ii. two parents
iii. one teacher
iv. a certified school librarian
b. A person who is directly involved in the complaint shall not serve on the
committee.
c. The Director of Instruction and Learning submits completed copies of the
Statement of Concern about Curriculum/Media Resources form to each
member of the Instructional Materials Committee.
3. The Director of Learning and Instruction will set a meeting date for the committee
within fifteen (15) school days from the receipt of the complaint.
a. The Director of Learning and Instruction will notify the complainant and
committee members of the meeting date.
b. All committee members must study the complete text, media, or content of
the material in question and the issues of the complaint before the initial
meeting.
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4. The committee shall:
a. invite the complainant and the faculty member(s) most involved with the use
of the material to provide oral and/or written comments to the committee to
present their points of view. The committee may choose to invite expert
witnesses to provide additional testimony. People testifying before the
committee shall be present only during the testimony portion of the committee
meeting.
b. review the challenged material and the testimonies.
c. determine the extent that the material supports the instructional program.
d. discuss values, merits, and faults of the challenged material.
e. base its opinion on the material in its entirety and not on passages pulled out
of context.
5. The committee will vote on the disposition of the complaint. The committee will vote
to decide whether:
a. to keep the content where it is,
b. to move the content to a school or platform with an older student
demographic, or
c. to remove the content from District access or collections.
6. Within two (2) school days of the decision, the Director of Instruction and Learning
will notify the complainant in writing of the committee's decision.
7. The decision of the Instructional Materials Committee may be appealed to the Board
of Trustees.
a. The appeal request must be received within five (5) school days after the
receipt of the appeal decision from the Instructional Material Committee. If an
appeal is not received within five school days, the decision of the committee
will be considered final.
b. All requests, appeals, and responses shall be in writing and submitted to the
Clerk of the Board.
c. The appeal must be limited to the scope of the original complaint.
d. The Board of Trustees’ decision is final.
14.The District shall notify a complainant of the date of the meeting at which the appeal
will be addressed.
15.Within five (5) school days of the completion of the review and appeal process, the
District will disseminate the final decision to all affected schools.
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16.The District’s Instruction and Learning Team will maintain a log of each formal
complaint and the results of the review/appeal process.
Guidelines for Student Use of Textbooks and Curricular Materials
1. Curricular materials may be made available for loan to students when the best
interest of the District and student will be served.
a. Students will not be charged for normal wear.
b. Students will be charged for excessive wear and/or unreasonable damage to
materials.
c. Replacement costs for lost materials will be charged to students.
2. The professional staff will maintain the records necessary for proper accounting of
all curricular materials.
DEFINITIONS
Curricular Materials: Any material used in classroom instruction, library materials, or
any materials to which a teacher might refer a student as part of the course of
instruction including textbooks, instructional media, including software, audio/visual
media; and internet resources.
Learning Team: team made up of Director of Instruction and Learning, Director of
Special Education, Director of Intervention and Support, Director of Technology, and
representatives from the Secondary and Elementary Principals.
Supplemental curricular materials: printed instructional materials or digital content
that are used on a consistent or regular basis and addresses only a portion of the
course content, are required to be used by all students in the class, and are used in
conjunction with a core text to provide differentiated instructional experiences to those
students who need them.
Adopted: 02-13-1986 Reviewed: 01-17-2018 Revised: 07-11-2001
06-08-2005
08-12-2020
04-13-2022
05-11-2022
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Cross Reference: Advanced Opportunities #2367
Parental Rights #2428
Legal Reference: Idaho Code § 33-118A Curricular materials – Adoption procedure
Idaho Code § 33-512A District curricular materials adoption committees
IDAPA 08.02.03.128 Curricular Materials Selection and Online Course
Approval
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