Books, Curriculum Materials and Curriculum Standards

(May, 2022, updated August, 2023)  Are Coweta teachers and media specialists allowing students to read “pornography” for class assignments or allowing children to check “pornography” out of school media centers?

No.  Books and other materials used in our schools - including books in media centers - are intended to follow guidelines for age, grade and academic appropriateness.  Unfortunately, however, several political activists or representatives of political organizations have taken to using the charged term "pornography" to refer to books that they object to.  Unfortunately, misinformation about CCSS, books and book bans has been circulated on social media and political websites.

Books in our libraries can be viewed by title through our Destiny catalog system, by school.  Books are selected for use in CCSS classes and for access in school media centers by certified teachers and library media specialists.  They seek to select books that have educational value and are age appropriate. 

The Coweta County school board has also had a policy in place for many years that allows parents to challenge any book that they think does not meet those expectations in their child's school or in school media centers.  The process begins with talking with the school’s principal, who can offer parents several options.  If the concern is not alleviated at that level, you can file a formal reconsideration challenge, which only requires completion of a form that asks questions such as whether you read the book and what concerns you have about the book.  Under our school system's long-standing Board policy (IFA-R), a media committee made up of parents and teachers (and students in some cases) at that school will review any book challenged for appropriateness or other reasons.  The committee members read the book, discuss it and make a determination for that school.  The individual parent and teacher committees are free to make whatever determination they think best and most appropriate for their school.  The process works to both reinforce community standards of age and subject appropriateness and to preserve appropriate academic freedom and standards. 

In recent years, several books in school libraries were publicly objected to by an organization called No Left Turn in Education.  These books were referred to media committee reviews in any middle or high schools that has a copy.  Parents and teachers on the committees reviewed those reconsideration requests, which then voted to either maintain, remove, or restrict the book in some manner that they felt appropriate.  In the case of one book, for example,  ("Looking for Alaska"), high school media committees voted to keep the book in their school's library, while middle school committees elected to remove it or restrict it's circulation. The school-based parent and teacher committees have the authority to act in the manner they think best suits their students.

If you as a parent are ever unsure about the content of material your child is assigned to read or brings home from the media center, we encourage you to contact your child's school.  Parents should contact their child’s teacher if they have questions about an assigned novel, as they will be happy to help you and, if you would like, provide an alternate assignment.  Parents should contact their child’s media specialist if they have questions about a book they have checked out, as they will be happy to help you and, if you would like, can restrict your child from checking out books.  Please consider having a conversation with your child about media center use.  If you are concerned your child may choose a book you don’t approve of, ask your child to bring it home before they read it.  If you do not have time to read a book your child checks out from the media center or an assigned novel and/or do not want to have a conversation with the teacher or media specialist, a website that provides parent-focused reviews, such as Lexile Find a Book or other such websites, may be helpful to you. 

(May, 2022, updated August, 2023)  Are Coweta teachers and media specialists allowing students to read “pornography” for class assignments or allowing children to check “pornography” out of school media centers?

No.  Books and other materials used in our schools - including books in media centers - are intended to follow guidelines for age, grade and academic appropriateness.  Unfortunately, however, several political activists or representatives of political organizations have taken to using the charged term "pornography" to refer to books that they object to.  Unfortunately, misinformation about CCSS, books and book bans has been circulated on social media and political websites.

Books in our libraries can be viewed by title through our Destiny catalog system, by school.  Books are selected for use in CCSS classes and for access in school media centers by certified teachers and library media specialists.  They seek to select books that have educational value and are age appropriate. 

The Coweta County school board has also had a policy in place for many years that allows parents to challenge any book that they think does not meet those expectations in their child's school or in school media centers.  The process begins with talking with the school’s principal, who can offer parents several options.  If the concern is not alleviated at that level, you can file a formal reconsideration challenge, which only requires completion of a form that asks questions such as whether you read the book and what concerns you have about the book.  Under our school system's long-standing Board policy (IFA-R), a media committee made up of parents and teachers (and students in some cases) at that school will review any book challenged for appropriateness or other reasons.  The committee members read the book, discuss it and make a determination for that school.  The individual parent and teacher committees are free to make whatever determination they think best and most appropriate for their school.  The process works to both reinforce community standards of age and subject appropriateness and to preserve appropriate academic freedom and standards. 

In recent years, several books in school libraries were publicly objected to by an organization called No Left Turn in Education.  These books were referred to media committee reviews in any middle or high schools that has a copy.  Parents and teachers on the committees reviewed those reconsideration requests, which then voted to either maintain, remove, or restrict the book in some manner that they felt appropriate.  In the case of one book, for example,  ("Looking for Alaska"), high school media committees voted to keep the book in their school's library, while middle school committees elected to remove it or restrict it's circulation. The school-based parent and teacher committees have the authority to act in the manner they think best suits their students.

If you as a parent are ever unsure about the content of material your child is assigned to read or brings home from the media center, we encourage you to contact your child's school.  Parents should contact their child’s teacher if they have questions about an assigned novel, as they will be happy to help you and, if you would like, provide an alternate assignment.  Parents should contact their child’s media specialist if they have questions about a book they have checked out, as they will be happy to help you and, if you would like, can restrict your child from checking out books.  Please consider having a conversation with your child about media center use.  If you are concerned your child may choose a book you don’t approve of, ask your child to bring it home before they read it.  If you do not have time to read a book your child checks out from the media center or an assigned novel and/or do not want to have a conversation with the teacher or media specialist, a website that provides parent-focused reviews, such as Lexile Find a Book or other such websites, may be helpful to you. 

(May, 2022)  What is Social and Emotional Learning in Coweta Schools, and is it a euphemism (or vehicle) for Critical Race Theory or similar divisive concepts?

No.    In Coweta County, Social and Emotional Learning is no different than the character education that our schools have incorporated for decades.  It can be defined as the process through which students develop knowledge and use skills in order to create and maintain healthy relationships, manage emotions, understand and empathize with others, establish a positive identity, set and achieve goals, make good decisions, and generally develop self-awareness, self-control, personal responsibility, and interpersonal skills that are vital for school, work, and life success.  We address bullying through our SEL approach by teaching conflict resolution, and helping students identify their feelings and motivations.  It is the basis of various ”character words of the day,” and “making choices” materials that parents see in their children’s elementary or middle schools.

All Coweta schools in Grades K-8 have been implementing SEL lessons as part of the curriculum since January 2020.  Each of these schools provided opportunities for review of the approach, and solicited parent and teacher input prior to implementation.  Parents can see more about our local Character Education curriculum in Board Policy IDAG and Board Policy IDAG-R.  To address this concern more directly, Social and Emotional Learning is not a “secret” way to promote Critical Race Theory or other such concepts in our schools.