EPN/NSBA Code: IJJ-E-R
MSAD 15 BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The Superintendent shall appoint a Review Committee as the need arises to handle challenges to resources. Only parents may request a review of resources or substitute assignments and only for their child. Challenged resources will remain in use throughout the review process. It is the intent of the Board that challenges be handled expeditiously.
The Director of Curriculum and Staff Development shall maintain the written record of the complaint process and keep the Building Principal informed. A decision by either the Review Committee or the Board to uphold a complaint shall not be interpreted as a judgment of irresponsibility on the part of the individuals involved in the original selection of the resource in question.
The sequence of steps in a challenge to use of educational resources follows.
1. The parent making the complaint will bring it to the attention of the person providing the resource, the Building Principal or the Director of Curriculum and Staff Development of staff members or principals receiving such complaints will immediately refer them to the Director of Curriculum and Staff Development.
2. The Curriculum Director will respond to the parent orally and will inform the Superintendent no later than the end of the following school day, whether or not the complainant seems satisfied. The Director of Curriculum and Staff Development will provide the parent with a copy of the policy, procedures and forms.
3. A parent wishing to pursue this further must file a Challenge to Educational Resources Form with the Superintendent. The complaint must cite a) the specific resources that are alleged to be inappropriate, unsuitable, or improper, b) the specific portions which are deemed to make them so, and c) why.
4. The Superintendent will form a Review Committee within two days of the Challenge form being filed. The Review Committee shall consist of one Board member who shall serve as chair, two community members, one MSAD 15 teacher, and one educator not employed by MSAD 15. The intent is to form a committee that will be objective in reviewing the challenged resource. The Director of Curriculum and Staff Development, the Principal and the individual who recommended the original selection will be called upon to provide information as needed, but will not be members of the Review Committee.
5. Members of the Review Committee shall meet within one week of being established. The Open Meetings Law to the Review Committee. The name of the complainant may be kept private at this level, but the decision of the Review Committee shall be made in public session. The Review Committee will examine the form and the challenged resources, and will meet with the complainant. Referring to the selection criteria and the specific complaint, they will make a decision based on the resource as a whole, not on portions or out of context. The Review Committee shall prepare a written report of its findings with explicit reasons and its decision, within two weeks of its first meeting. If extenuating circumstances exist the Review Committee can ask the Superintendent for a time extension. The report of the Committee shall be forwarded to the Superintendent, who will inform the complainant of the results within two days. The findings of the Review Committee shall be limited to deciding on the use of challenged resources by the child of the person making the complaint. The Review Committee may also make a recommendation to the Superintendent on the use of those resources for other students.
6. In the event that the complainant or school staff involved in the complaint are not satisfied, the matter may be appealed to the Board of Directors. The appeal shall be made in writing within two weeks of receiving the written results, and shall indicate the actions that the person making the appeal feels should be taken to resolve the matter. The Board will hear the appeal at their next regular or special meeting.
7. The Board shall deliberate and decide the matter in open session. The Director of Curriculum and Staff Development, Principal, staff member who made the original selection, Review Committee and complainant shall all have the right to make presentations to the Board in support of the positions they have taken in the matter. The Board retains the right to employ counsel to advise them in their deliberations. The decision of the Board shall be final.
IJJ-R Procedures for Selection of Educational Resources
IJJ-E-RA Challenges to Educational Resources Form