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 school receiving a complaint about the appropriateness of an instructional resource shall try to resolve the matter informally using the following procedure:

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 this 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. 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 now Keller ISD's' practice to invite at least two parents to each committee meeting. 

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. You can click here to review the checklist used to facilitate the committee meeting.

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 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 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. You can review the specific questions addressed by the committee in the committee checklist for reconsideration.