Policy Manual

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Policy IJJ

The Board is legally responsible for all matters relating to the operation of the schools, including the provision of instructional materials and maintenance of library-media resources that support the school system’s curriculum. 

While the Board retains its authority to approve the selection of instructional materials, it recognizes the educational expertise of its professional staff and the need for such staff to be involved in the recommendation of instructional materials. The Board delegates responsibility for the selection of instructional materials and library-media resources to the professionally trained personnel employed by the school system, subject to the criteria and procedures for selection and the Board’s policy on challenged materials as described below. 

With the assistance of professional staff, the Superintendent shall establish a system for the selection of instructional materials, including procedures to establish an orderly process for the review and recommendation of instructional materials. The Superintendent will be responsible for overseeing the purchase of instructional materials within budgetary parameters set by the Board. The Board expects the Superintendent to report on progress made in aligning instructional materials with curriculum development and evaluation in support of the content standards contained in Maine’s system of Learning Results. 

Each school shall maintain a library-media program that includes books and other print materials, multimedia materials, online Internet resources and information technology that support the curriculum. A certified library-media specialist will be responsible for overseeing the library-media program, under the supervision of the Superintendent. As with instructional materials, the Board delegates responsibility for selection of library-media materials and technology and Internet resources to the school system’s professionally trained staff, subject to the criteria and procedures for selection and the Board’s policy on challenged materials described below. 

1. Definitions 

• “Instructional materials” include textbooks and other print materials, software and other electronic materials, online/Internet resources (including access), and supplies and other materials to support instruction in subject areas and implementation of the system of Learning Results. 

• “Library-media resources” include books, print materials, online/Internet resources (including access), multimedia materials and information technology that, as part of the library-media program, support the school system’s curriculum. 

2. Objectives of Selection 

• The Board recognizes that it is the primary objective of instructional materials to implement and support the curriculum, and of library-media resources to extend and enrich the educational programs of the schools. Quality instructional materials and library-media resources are essential to student learning. In preparing students to meet the content standards of the Learning Results, in supporting the achievement of the school unit’s educational goals and objectives, and in providing enrichment opportunities that expand students’ interests and contribute to a desire for lifelong learning, it is the responsibility of the instructional program and the library-media centers of the schools to provide a wide range of materials on all levels of difficulty, with diversity of appeal and the presentation of different points of view, and to place principle above personal opinion and reason above prejudice in selection of materials of the highest quality in order to assure a comprehensive collection appropriate for the users of the library media center. 

3. Criteria for Selection 

• Instructional and library-media materials selected should: 

  • Support achievement of the content standards of the Learning Results;

  • Support the goals and objectives of the school system’s educational programs; 

  • Enrich and support the curriculum; 

  • Take into consideration the varied interests, abilities, and maturity levels of the students served; 

  • Foster respect and appreciation for cultural diversity and varied opinions acknowledging significant contributors of diverse ethnic, religious, gender, and cultural groups to all fields of study. 

  • Provide a comprehensive, accurate and engaging collection that enables students to develop a capability for critical analysis through equitable access to a broad range of perspectives and experiences; 

  • Present a balance of opposing sides of controversial issues to enable students to develop a capability for critical analysis; 

  • Stimulate growth in factual knowledge, literary appreciation, aesthetic values and ethical standards; 

  • Provide a background of information that will enable students to make intelligent decisions in their daily lives; and 

  • Respect the constraints of the school unit’s budget. 

• Other factors that should be considered are accuracy and currency of material; importance of the subject matter; scholarship; quality of writing and production; and reputation and significance of the author, artist or composer. 

• In evaluating software, multimedia materials and online/Internet resources, additional factors that should be considered include purpose for use; content; format (degree of interactivity or student involvement); appropriate use of graphics, sound and animation; feedback provided; and ease of use. 

4. Procedures for Selection 

• Meeting the needs of the individual schools, based on knowledge of the curriculum and the existing collections of instructional and library-media materials, shall be the highest priority. Basic learning materials, i.e., those that are the predominant instructional materials used by most members of the class, are used for a significant portion of the course or receive major emphasis during a course, or are essential to student achievement of content standards of the Learning Results are to take priority in the selection process. 

• Before recommending materials for purchase, professional staff should evaluate the existing collection, consulting reputable, unbiased, professionally prepared selection aids and specialists from all departments and/or all grade levels. 

• Social studies and science textbooks should not be older than five years unless up-to-date supplemental instructional materials are also available. 

• Whenever possible, purchase of non-print materials and multimedia, Internet and digital resources shall be made only after personal evaluation by the librarian/media specialist and/or other appropriate professional staff. Reviewing aids may be used in lieu of personal evaluation. 

• Multiple copies of outstanding and much-in-demand materials should be purchased as needed. Worn or missing standard items should be replaced periodically. Out-of-date or no-longer-useful materials should be withdrawn from the collection/circulation. 

5. Donated Materials 

• Gift materials are to be evaluated by the same criteria as purchased materials. and are to be accepted or rejected by those criteria and in accordance with Board policy on gifts and donations. 

6. Parental Authority 

• A student’s parent/guardian may inspect, upon request, any instructional material used as part of the curriculum. The Superintendent will be responsible for developing and implementing procedures for providing access to instructional material within a reasonable time after such a request is made. 

• The Board recognizes that the final authority as to what materials an individual student will be exposed rests with that student’s parents or guardians. However, at no time will the wishes of one child’s parents to restrict his/her reading or viewing of a particular item infringe on other parents’ rights to permit their children to read or view the same material. 

• Library-media center materials will not be removed from the collection because of criticism except in accordance with Board policy. 

7. Challenged Materials 

8. Despite the care taken to select materials for student and teacher use and the qualifications of the persons who select the materials, the Board recognized that objections may be raised occasionally by students, parents, school staff or other members of the South Portland community. Members of the South Portland community include residents of South Portland and parents or guardians of students currently enrolled in South Portland schools. 

In the event a complaint is made, the following procedures will apply: 

1. The complaint shall be heard first by the person providing the materials in question. 

2. If the complaint is not resolved, the complainant shall be referred to the building Principal and requested to fill out the “Instructional and Library-Media Materials Challenge Form.” They should also be provided a copy of the relevant selection, adoption, and challenge policies. A copy of the form will be forwarded to the Superintendent. 

3. The Superintendent shall appoint a committee composed of the following persons to review the complaint: one administrator; one librarian/media specialist; one classroom teacher; the curriculum leader, which is the department chair, content or grade level leader in the subject area of the challenged materials; one community member. The members of the review committee will be anonymous to protect the objectivity of the deliberation. The review committee meeting will be closed and the committee’s discussions will be confidential. Comments from members of the South Portland community related to the complaint should be directed to the principal or Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment and these comments will be relayed to the members of the committee. The review committee will consider only those comments made by members of the South Portland community. 

4. The review committee shall: read and examine the materials referred to them; check general acceptance of materials by reading reviews; weigh values and faults against each other and form opinions based on the material as a whole and not on passages or portions pulled out of context; meet to discuss the material and to prepare a written report on it. The report will present both majority and minority opinions and will make a recommendation to retain the material in its original location, to relocate the material, or to remove the material. The review committee’s recommendation is to be an objective evaluation of the material within the scope of the district’s relevant selection and adoption policies. 

5. The report of the committee shall be forwarded to the Superintendent who will inform the complainant of the results. 

6. No materials shall be removed from use until the review committee has made a final decision. 

Legal Reference: 20-A MRSA §§ 1001 (10-A); 1055 (4); 4002 

Ch. 125 §§ 9.01, 9.03 (Me. Dept. of Ed. Rules) 

P.L. 107-110 § 1061 (No Child Left Behind Act) 

Cross Reference: IJJ-E-1 – Instructional and Library-Media Materials Challenge Form IJJ-E-2 – Incident Report (Exhibit) 

IJJ-R – Library Materials Selection & Adoption (regulation) 

IJJ-R1 – Instructional Materials Selection & Adoption (regulation) 

IJNCA – Library Bill of Rights 

IJNC – School Libraries 

Adopted: November 13, 2002 

Revised: January 10, 2022 

*Please excuse any formatting errors.