New state legislation allows residents to challenge books in their local school district even if they don’t have a student enrolled.
Lawmakers embedded the change within the North Carolina state budget. Now, Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools leaders are working to update district policies to comply.
In addition to expanding the scope of who can challenge materials in a public school, the legislation changes what that process looks like.
WS/FCS Chief Academic Officer Paula Wilkins explained how it differs from the district's old policy at a recent meeting.
“If a book was challenged at the school level, that only applied to the school," she said. "Now, if a book challenge comes forth and the board makes a decision, it applies to the entire district.”
And instead of school-based review committees, the legislation calls for just one districtwide team. That will be made up of three principals, three teachers, three media coordinators and two parents. They’ll have two weeks to make a recommendation to the school board, which will ultimately have the final say.
Wilkins says the committee members may rotate throughout the year to avoid burnout if there are several formal challenges. But in the last four years, she says there’s only been one.