After crafting a brand new book policy to keep up with the current times, Park County School District 1 received minimal comments on the first draft of the book policy.

The implementation of a book policy was sparked after national conflicts in regards to removing inappropriate books from school libraries. The current book policy in place was deemed out of date and could not handle modern concerns.

Parents and community members believed some of the books in school libraries across the district were not appropriate for students. For more detailed information on parent and community concern see this article: Read Them Their Rights. The parameters of the policy are also discussed in depth in this article.

“I think having a book policy is a good way for parents to understand what their kids are reading,” junior Kik Hayano said. “But, I also know that they can be misused though I believe that our district will do their best to use it properly.”

One of the main aspects of the new policy is to increase parent involvement in what their students are checking out from the library.

“We wanted to recognize the parents’ role in selecting library materials for their own children,” PCSD1 Superintendent Mr. Jay Curtis stated in a previous article. “We wrote an entire section on the parents’ role and the rights that they carry as parents for their own children.”

The comments regarding the first draft included a wording clarification of the rating scale, and Powell High School principal, Mr. Tim Wormald, voiced his concern of having the principal of the school serve as chairman of the reconsideration committee.

At the March 21 board meeting, the policy was adjusted to accommodate these concerns. The policy’s content ratings span from one to five. A book that is rated a five will not be allowed in any school library because it is considered adult content. The document including the rating scale can be found here. 

When a book is brought to the board to be reconsidered, the principal of the school where the book is being challenged can serve as the chairman of the reconsideration committee, or they can designate a person to be the chairman of the committee. 

The policy takes on a committee approach in order to take the pressure off one single person to make the decision.

“My position is that I think that there should be a committee approach that should not fall on one person or as we would say, point of failure for a policy,” Mr. Curtis said. “A committee approach spreads it out over multiple people on that responsibility.”

During this second reading of the policy, the board approved a third reading. If the policy is not approved after this reading, the policy will start back at square one. 

Some students and staff believe the new policy is unnecessary because they believe literature is not the problem. Ridding the school libraries of certain books may be ineffective when students can search the internet for anything they wish to see or know. 

“I think it’s really important at the high school level that students have access to almost anything within reason, obviously not pornography,” biology teacher Mrs. Lenita Moore said. “But, it’s the time when they’re exploring who they want to be and the important thing they need to look at is how other people’s lives are, and that’s what books show you.”

On April 11, students will have the opportunity to voice their opinions on the new policy. The school board welcomes student opinions and wishes to hear their thoughts on the subject.