Book fuels debate over 'objectionable' content in Richland schools
A novel about a 9-year-old boy dealing with the death of his father on Sept. 11 has sparked a months-long discussion in the Richland School District about how far teachers need to go to inform parents about a book's content.
RICHLAND — A novel about a 9-year-old boy dealing with the death of his father on Sept. 11 has sparked a months-long discussion in the Richland School District about how far teachers need to go to inform parents about a book's content.
School Board members already have reshaped policy dealing with the way novels are approved for classroom use. Tuesday, they're poised to consider how to notify parents of "objectionable" content, such as profanity, sex and violence.
The options range from including a short statement in course syllabi to instituting a ratings system. The latter has some worried it could lead to censorship and questioning how such a system — which would be subjective by nature — would even work.
Others say the bottom line is current practice isn't good enough and needs to be changed.
School Board President Rick Jansons said the board's goal has been to find the best path when it comes to
