FILE: IFA
INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS
The Lafayette Parish School Board strongly encourages the utilization of a wide variety of materials and equipment in the instructional program. The selection of media shall be determined by the objectives of the course and the experiences and activities to be provided to meet such objectives. Instructional personnel shall keep abreast of the types of materials and equipment which can contribute toward meeting the goals and objectives of courses. Instructional personnel shall also assist the administration in the selection and purchase of such materials and equipment for the school.
The School Board believes that appropriate personnel and materials must be available for each student. It shall be the policy of the School Board that available system resources be allocated in a manner to ensure equivalence among schools of a similar type and enrollment in: (1) teachers, administrators and auxiliary personnel; and (2) curriculum materials and instructional supplies.
PARENTAL ACCESS TO INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS
A parent of a child attending a public elementary or secondary school shall be entitled to access to instructional materials as provided by law. A parent shall be entitled to
Review instructional materials used by or administered to the parent's child; and
Review any survey before the survey is administered or distributed by a school to a student.
The Superintendent and/or his/her designee shall develop and maintain pertinent administrative regulations and procedures governing parental access to instructional materials. At a minimum, such regulations and procedures shall specify reasonable hours for review, that instructional materials shall be provided upon reasonable request of the parent, and reasonable and customary fees for copying of material(s) requested. Nothing shall prohibit or interfere with the parent making his/her own copies on school premises using any mobile or other device.
DEFINITIONS
Instructional materials means content that conveys the knowledge or skills of a subject in the school curriculum through a medium or a combination of media for conveying information to a student. It also includes any nonsecure test, nonsecure assessment, or survey administered to a student. The term also includes books, supplementary materials, teaching aids, computer software, magnetic media, DVD, CD-ROM, computer courseware, online material, information, or services, or an electronic medium or other means of conveying information to the student or otherwise contributing to the learning process.
Parent means the parent or legal guardian of a child.
Survey means any evaluative instrument or questionnaire that is not an assessment of academic knowledge, skills, or abilities, administered as part of a state, national, or international assessment or by itself.
RESPONSIBILITY FOR SELECTION
Responsibility for the purchase of library and instructional materials is vested legally in the Lafayette Parish School Board. The School Board delegates to the appropriate instructional staff the responsibility of developing final recommendations for purchase.
The actual selection of materials shall be the responsibility of professionally trained personnel who are familiar with the courses of study, the methods of teaching, and the individual needs of students. The appropriate instructional staff, aided by suggestions from the school administrators, the school faculties, students and parents, make the final selection. The selection of media shall be determined by the objectives of the course and the experiences and activities to be provided to meet such objectives.
PROCEDURE FOR HANDLING CRITICISM OF MATERIAL
Criticism of specific materials should be handled by the principal whenever possible. If the criticism cannot be resolved by the principal to the satisfaction of the complainant, then the following procedures shall be followed.
No student shall be required to use any instructional material that offends him/her or the student’s parents.
The procedures of the Lafayette Parish School Board for instructional review shall be explained to the complainant by the professional involved.
No questioned material shall be removed pending a final decision. Pending the outcome of the request for reconsideration, if the complainant is a parent, access to the questioned material may be withheld for that parent’s child(ren) only.
The principal or designated representative shall contact the complainant to discuss the complaint and attempt to resolve it informally by explaining the philosophy and goals of the Lafayette Parish School Board. If reviews are available on the challenged material, they will also be shared.
If the complaint is not solved informally, the complainant shall be supplied a written copy of the Lafayette Parish Instructional Materials Selection Regulations. Before any consideration will be given to the complaint, the complainant shall complete the Citizen’s Request for Review of Instructional Materials form contained within the packet.
If the formal request for reconsideration has not been received by the principal in ten (10) school days, the issue shall be considered closed.
Upon receipt of a completed form, the principal shall forward the form along the questioned material to the local school advisory committee. No action shall be taken on the questioned material prior to the final decision. The local school advisory committee shall be composed of a school building administrator, a parent, a librarian, a school counselor and teacher representatives.
Findings and recommendations by the local school advisory committee shall be finalized within ten (10) school days. One copy of the findings shall be mailed to the Superintendent, one copy to the parish media committee, one copy sent to the complainant, and one copy kept on file in the building principal’s office.
The principal shall inform the complainant of his/her right of appeal. If appealed, the principal shall forward any additional documentation to the parish media committee.
Upon notification, the complainant has ten (10) school days to appeal to the Superintendent and the parish media committee. This committee shall be composed of appropriate instructional supervisor/curriculum specialists, librarians, teachers, principals, or assistant principals, counselors, parents, students (when appropriate), and community representatives.
Findings and recommendations by the parish media committee shall be finalized within ten (10) school days. One copy of the findings shall be mailed to the Superintendent and one to the school involved.
The Superintendent shall notify the complainant of the committee’s recommendation with five (5) school days. If the complainant does not concur, he/she may present an appeal with five (5) school days of receipt of the decision to the Lafayette Parish School Board which shall make a final determination. In making its determination, the School Board may seek assistance from outside education associations and organizations such as the American Library Association, National Council of Teachers of English, the National Education Association, the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, and the National PTA.
Adopted: 1976
Revised: June 16, 1993
Revised: August 18, 1999
Revised: September 2, 2015
Ref: Constitution of Louisiana, Art. VIII, Sec. 13
La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§17:81, 17:355
Board minutes, 6-16-93, 8-18-99, 9-2-15
Lafayette Parish School Board