The Fredericksburg School Board on Monday passed a new policy that will ensure parental notification of instructional materials with sexually explicit content.
The new policy is required by a law enacted by the General Assembly this spring. School division staff presented the new policy last month. It’s based on a model policy released by the Virginia Department of Education this summer.
As passed by the School Board unanimously on Monday, the new policy states that the board will provide “nonexplicit instructional material and related academic activities to any student whose parent requests that the student be provided with such instructional material.”
The policy tasks Superintendent Marci Catlett with “creating, implementing and periodically updating procedures for implementing” the policy.
The procedures will include a process for identifying instructional material with sexually explicit content; a process by which principals will provide written notice to parents at least 30 days prior to use of such content and informs them of their right to review the content and request their child use alternate content; a process for maintaining a list of instructional material with sexually explicit content by grade and subject matter on the division’s website; and a process for parents to review the content online as permitted by copyright.
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According to the new policy, library materials are only considered instructional materials when “used for completion of an assignment from Fredericksburg City Public Schools, or as part of an academic or extracurricular education program conducted by Fredericksburg City Public Schools.”
The board also approved an addition to the school division’s policy governing the selection and adoption of supplementary material that states teachers must adhere to the procedures created as a result of the new policy.
Also on Monday, the board formally approved a comprehensive agreement with First Choice, LLC, the public-private partnership selected to design and build of the city’s new middle school.
City Council reviewed and approved the agreement last month.