Cy-Fair ISD students must now get parents' permission to borrow books at school library

Parents of Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District students will be able to block their children from borrowing books from school libraries this year, under a new policy passed by the district’s board of trustees. The seven-member board on Monday night voted unanimously to approve a new library materials policy. Board members said the new policy was a victory for transparency and parent involvement in their children’s education. But critics who spoke at Monday night’s board meeting said the new policy made extra work for librarians and teachers at the beginning of new school year. The new policy will also allow parents to choose what “level” of books their child is allowed to read. For instance, some middle school children will only be allowed to access books that are classified as “juvenile,” unless their parent gives permission for them to check out books classified as “young adult,” officials said. Older students would have a choice to be allowed to check out “adult” level books. SALARY CHECK: How much do teachers in your Texas school district make? Here's what the data shows. The policy would affect more than 117,000 students across 93 school campuses when implemented in November. The first day of school is Aug. 22. The new policy comes after months of controversy about public school lessons and library books across Texas. Some parents and conservative lawmakers have accused liberals of smuggling ideological material into public schools. Last year, the Texas Legislature passed a law banning “critical race theory” from being taught in Texas schools, restricting how racism and the legacy of slavery can be addressed in class. There have also been efforts by the same groups to ban allegedly inappropriate books from schools and libraries. Under the new policy, book levels will follow definitions already used by publishers, officials said during a workshop meeting last Thursday. Still, district librarians will have to review thousands of books in its collections to decide which level the books belonged.Teachers will also have to inventory the books in their individual classroom libraries. School board trustee Lucas Scanlon said the policy enabled parents “to understand what’s in the library.” At the workshop meeting, Scanlon said the district was “responding to the need of parents to have a level of comfort.” Board members said the district created its policy based on a memorandum published in April by the Texas Education Agency. “Parents need to feel safe sending our kids to public schools,” said Trustee Natalie Blasingame. “Parents need to have a voice. If there are parents who don’t want their children to have access, they should have a voice to say no.” Blasingame and others officials said the policy was already informally allowed. A parent might call school librarians and tell them not to allow their child to check out certain books or certain authors. School leaders initially worried the policy would be result in libraries being closed at the beginning of the school year, as librarians and teachers started to review books for their levels. A large group of teachers and school district advocates also protested the policy over the burden it would put on teachers. “The immediate negative impacts on them is urgent,” said Stacy DeMyer, a parent with children in the school district. “Aside from the fact that we should be trusting our highly trained teachers, requiring them to inventory their books by the first day of school, or else risk they be excluded from use until they do so, is entirely unreasonable.” SURVEY SAYS: More Texas teachers on verge of quitting than at any time in the last 40 years Based after those complaints and on the the recommendation of the district’s legal counsel, the board voted to approve the policy but only implement it in November. The new board policy requires the district to post a list of all of its library materials on the district’s website and allows parents, students over the age of 18, employees and district residents to challenge the level an item was rated at. The policy says that control over instructional materials “extends only to his or her own child.” Parents will also be able to view what books their children check out of school libraries. Speakers and board members at Monday’s meeting didn’t mention any fspecific books that they considered objectionable. Some of the speakers during Monday’s meeting criticized board members who pushed the policies, calling them extreme and the result of complaints from a small group of parents. In November, three board members ran and won on an anti-critical race theory platform and received the backing of local right-wing political action groups. Board President Tom Jackson and other board members received a large amount of feedback about the library policy after last Thursday’s meeting. He disagreed that the policy was being influenced by a small groups of parents, and it was in third-largest school district in Texas to have a library policy in place before the Texas Legislature convenes next year. “If we can be ahead of the curve, it is better for us as a district,” Jackson said. “It’s better for our teachers and our students.” john.ferguson@chron.com - How much do teachers in your Texas school district make? Here's what the data shows. - Houston ISD police not prepared for Uvalde-like active shooter, superintendent says - Here are the top dogs, bears and other animals who rep Texas colleges, in memory of UH's Shasta - Houston preschoolers are now being prepped for mass shootings: 'Times have changed' - Houston districts trying to fill thousands of teacher vacancies

Cy-Fair ISD students must now get parents' permission to borrow books at school library

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