The Davis School District board voted unanimously to approve new instructional materials during a workshop meeting on July 21, concluding a debate over whether teachers should provide parents with additional notifications regarding classroom novels that contain potentially difficult topics.
Debate Over Parental Notifications
The discussion, which centered on the business item for Instructional Materials, focused on whether the board should require teachers to send emails or other notifications to parents when a book with "touchable content" is scheduled for classroom use. The debate emerged during the review of specific titles, including the novel "The Fault in Our Stars," recommended for students in grades 10 and above.
Board member Julie Powell noted that the original committee reviewing the material suggested approving the book with a parent warning due to what she described as "some kind of risqué content." Powell expressed uncertainty regarding whether a formal motion was required to include such a warning, stating, "I don’t know if I need to make a motion for that."
District Recommendations and Practices
Board President Brigit Gerrard supported the idea of including a warning in the approval, noting she had previously considered the committee's suggestion. During the July 21 meeting, Gerrard asked Teaching and Learning Department Director TJ Strain if specific wording needed to be added to the approval to reflect the committee's notes.
Strain responded that while not a formal recommendation, the district continues to suggest such notifications as "good practice" to keep parents informed. He noted that teachers often include these details in a disclosure or a unit overview, stating, "We’re just trying to get our teachers to just send a note home to say, ‘hey, we’re about to read this,’ whether that’s in a disclosure or the unit they’re on."
Clarification of Sensitive Materials
Assistant Superintendent Dr. Logan Toone clarified that "The Fault in Our Stars" does not contain prohibited sensitive materials, which would otherwise prevent its use in schools. Toone remarked that a board directive requiring a letter home for such books would be "abnormal," given that typical instructional recommendations follow an established process.
Strain further explained that these notifications are already part of general practice, as teachers frequently include them in syllabi or beginning-of-the-year materials. He shared examples of teachers emailing parents to announce upcoming units and provide discussion points for students.
Concerns Over Micromanagement
Not all board members supported adding new requirements, with some expressing concern about the burden placed on both teachers and parents. Board member Michelle Barber argued that the responsibility for reviewing course content should remain with the parents through the syllabus, stating, "I keep hearing that it puts it all on the parents to read the syllabus but that’s really who should have the responsibility of looking through this."
Powell echoed this sentiment, noting that as a parent, she is unlikely to read every syllabus for multiple children across various classes. She suggested that while she would appreciate an email regarding potentially difficult content, it is difficult to monitor every child's curriculum due to the high number of classes secondary students take.
Parental Responsibility and Oversight
Board member Emily Price warned that requiring additional notifications could be viewed as micromanaging teachers, particularly in secondary schools where students manage multiple subjects. Price noted that teachers are already performing well in notifying parents of upcoming material.
Superintendent Dr. Dan Linford defended the expectation that parents review syllabi, stating that reading eight different syllabi for a high school student is not an unreasonable expectation. Drawing on his professional background, Linford said, "As an English teacher for seven and years, I always communicated home. Most of it was in the syllabus or in the disclosure statements. That’s how teachers are trained."
Meeting Overview and Legal Context
The meeting agenda, as presented by Board President Brigit Gerrard on July 21, also included updates on Human Resources hiring procedures, capital project presentations by Business Administrator Tim Leffel and Facilities Administrator Weston Weekes, and the introduction of new school administrative interns.
While the board debated the nuances of instructional notifications, the legal framework for parental rights in Utah schools remains established under Utah Code Title 53G, which outlines various provisions regarding parental access to learning management systems and annual notices of parental rights.
