Student access to media materials determined by parental consent forms

By MEGHAN BRADBURY news@breezenewspapers com

M o r e l e n g t h y d i s c u s s i o n r e v o l v i n g around the student Media Access form sent to the parents resulted in no changes this week

A motion by Lee County Board member Chris Patricca Tuesday night regarding the form that allows parents to determine what materials their children may check out did not pass as most board members thought the process and form were fine

The board previously determined by consensus which option would be the default if a parent did not fill out the form, a decision made without Patricca and Board member Debbie Jordan present

The three choices parents are:

■ My child has full access to check out books from the school media center, except for books that have been restricted or those that require parent/guardian consent

■ My child is not permitted to check out books from the school media center

■ My child is not permitted to check out books from the school media center that have been formally challenged and r e c e i v e d f o r p o t e n t i a l l y o b j e c t i o n a b l e material, regardless of the outcome

The default, if a parent does not fill out the form, is the third option

Board Attorney Kathy Dupuy-Bruno said the administration is not denying students access to materials She said they erred on the side of caution with the default “ P a r e n t r i g h t s w i l l t r u m p s t u d e n t ’ s rights We are asking parents to tell us what

Options for parents

Parents with children in Lee County Public Schools have three options concerning the materials to which they child has access They are:

■ My child has full access to check out books from the school media center, except for books that have been restricted or those that require parent/guardian consent

■ My child is not permitted to check out books from the school media center

■ My child is not permitted to check out books from the school media center that have been formally challenged and received for potentially objectionable material, regardless of the outcome.

The default option, if a parent or guardian does not fill out the form is:

■ My child is not permitted to check out books from the school media center that have been formally challenged and received for potentially objectionable material, regardless of the outcome you want us to do,” she said

Patricca’s motion was to “move to direct the superintendent to use the Media Access Form originally supported by staff and the Curriculum Advisory Committee until such time the board can pass a Media Access policy ”

The form was a recommendation by the Curriculum Advisory Committee, which included public input She said it was collaborative work and it was good work, as people on both sides of the issue came forth and praised the work of the committee, resulting in a form that represented the best they could do

“We really rushed through this and landed in a place where I think it will lead to lawsuits filed against us,” Patricca said “Aren’t we doing this backwards here?

Why are procedures written, approved and implemented before policies are created?”

Patricca said “book” and “restriction” should never appear in the same sentence

“ W h a t a b o u t p r o t e c t i n g s t u d e n t ’ s rights? Logically the best way to keep objectionable material out of the hands of children is to restrict access to books Legally that is impossible if you believe in the First Amendment,” she said

Patricca said the restrictive view of the First Amendment violates the constitution She said the option will deny some students the opportunity to receive ideas and information and denies parents the right of whether their own children can receive ideas and information

Board member Debbie Jordan was also not present at the board meeting that dis- cussed the form, as she was out of town

“What was the purpose of us bringing it up to change the form? They did the work They did their jobs It’s not our job to make the form,” Jordan said

When the consensus was originally given for the Media Access form, Board member Cathleen Morgan was not comfortable with the idea

“It was poor management to bring this to the board just before the start of school during the time of year when board members have time away for vacations We need, as a board, to give this time for all of us to have a conversation Go back to the o r i g i n a l f o r m , ” M o r g a n s a i d o f t h e

Curriculum Advisory Committee and staff “If we want to engage in management of the district’s process, then we have to do a policy ”

B o a r d m e m b e r s J a d a L a n g f o r dFleming and Melisa Giovannelli as well as Chair Armor Persons liked the form that went out to parents

“I believe there is going to be less litigation in this way, especially how things are framed The government is not restricting those rights,” Fisher said of the free, open and transparent choice for parents “This is for the 1 9 percent that we believe it will affect ”

“We are giving rights back to parents and protecting all students,” Giovannelli said “It takes a village and this is part of the village work This form puts the power back to the parents and there is nothing wrong with that ”