The topic of classroom literature can’t seem to be bookmarked.
“This has been a topic at board meetings, not only in our district, but across the state since January, really,” said Tom Jackson, President of Cy-Fair ISD School Board of Trustees.
Cy-Fair ISD Board of Trustees unanimously voted to update their book policy on Monday.
“We are moving to have transparency of all the books in our collection so parents can see what titles we have,” Jackson said.
This means that parents will be able to control if their child will have access to juvenile, young adult or adult level reading. Teachers and staff will be responsible for creating the mass catalog.
“It was just one more thing, one more to do on their already busy, busy full plates,” said Nikki Cowart, President of Cy-Fair AFT.
She said when the policy change was brought up at a board workshop on Thursday, there was instant concern about adding to teachers’ already packed workload.
“Needless angst, if you will. Unfortunately, I just think it was poorly communicated,” she said.
Others shared similar concerns at Monday night’s meeting. So, the board voted to implement the policy on November 15.
“I’m sorry for the angst this has caused,” Jackson said. “I think as a board we could have been louder in our communication.”
“My initial reaction was, ‘Oh, hell no!’” Tara Cummings said.
The mother of two said she was initially against the change but is turning the page on her perspective.
“I think the one thing that this policy is protective and good about is it protects each individual parent’s right to decide for their own child and only their own child,” she explained.
Jackson said there will likely be tweaks to the deadline and they will continue to look at ways to lighten the load.