Yes. Challenged books in circulation are being reviewed under the lens of the new Policy EFB (Local) and its accompanying rubric. Keller ISD will provide updates throughout the process at www.KellerISD.net/InstructionalResources/Challenges. 

Not necessarily. A campus administrator and librarian will first review the book through the lens of the new Policy EFB (Local). If the book adheres to the new policy, the book will be returned to circulation. If the book does not adhere to EFB (Local), the book will be removed from circulation. 

The book is held in a Parental Consent Area of the library during the challenge process. Only students with permission to checkout books in the Parental Consent Area will be allowed to check out the book. Once the book goes through the challenge process, it will be returned to or removed from circulation. 

Board Policy EFB (Local) states that challenge committees will be audio and video recorded and open to the public. Recordings of these meetings will be considered public record for purposes of the Public Information Act. We will not post the recordings on the District website, but an individual could request the recordings through the PIA process, and the District would be required to provide the recording. 

Books available to students through the library are intended for voluntary use by students as they self-select independent reading materials. Books may also meet a curricular need for students, but library books are not the primary source of instruction. An instructional resource is an educational aid or material intended to be used by all students for instructional purposes (e.g., textbook, online material, video, media). 

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, Amazon wishlist donations, Donors Choose, etc. Typically these books are available for students to read independently or use in the instructional setting.

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.

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.

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.

EFB local states that the board will approve all book purchases.  KISD will post a list of books 30 days prior to each board meeting.  

Any material removed will not be eligible for consideration to be added again for at least 10 years.