!HELP!
A Series for School Leaders
Some parents object to what’s being taught! What should I do?
School principals, superintendents and school boards regularly face complaints from parents about curricular materials. That, in itself, is nothing new. But today, the publicity surrounding the complaints may be different. How you handle parent complaints shouldn’t be a problem if you simply follow your own rules and sensibilities. Here’s our How To for this when it comes your way:
1. Recognize that parents may voice an objection to a specific book, chapter, page or conversation in any classroom. But at the same time, we wouldn’t get very far if every parent’s objection had us scurrying around defending or pulling out materials our teachers use to teach. So, simply follow your own board policies and sensibilities.
2. When you receive a complaint, be polite and responsive, but act deliberately and in compliance with your own rules. Respond to the complaint with a simple thank you and the fact that you will follow up as per board policy.
3. Know your board policy and if you don’t have one, model after the recommended policies from your regional, state, or national school boards organization.
4. Typically, board policies set out a procedure for handling complaints about books or materials and teacher presentations. These policies usually call for the forming of a committee representing several constituencies to review the complaint.
5. Be sure to place people on the committee who are moderate in their approach to parenting, represent the larger set of parents and community members, and are open to opinions from any side of an issue.
6. The committee will gather information including recommendations regarding the material from professional sources, they will read the book or material in question, and they will collectively make a recommendation to the principal/superintendent/school board, regarding the item in question.
7. The deciding person/board will then take the recommendation including the information regarding the sources the committee considered in reaching their recommendation, read the book or material in question, and decide simply if the committee’s recommendation is supported by its deliberative process.
8. If, as is likely in most situations, it is found the committee did its due diligence and properly considered appropriate perspectives on the item in question, then its recommendation should be followed.
Community Follow-Up:
When discussing these matters in public, be honest:
*No one thinks we should expose young people to salacious materials or grossly insensitive statements.
*There are books, including dictionaries and the Bible, that include words and actions that, when singled out, can be problematic. In context, these words and actions are about growing one's vocabulary and learning life lessons.
*As a child gets older, part of our efforts as parents and teachers is to help them navigate the world as it is and will be, not as it was at one time.
*Most parents support teachers and the school board's approved curriculum. Making instruction optional may be an easy road to take but may not be in the child's best interest long term.
Keep in mind that instruction is not a popularity contest, but it should consider its community’s values and expectations as a whole. Teachers are professionally trained and often stretch their students to teach them the value of thinking and learning; sometimes that creates some dissonance especially for parents who want to largely control what their children are exposed to, which is to varying degrees a natural parenting exercise.
Our job as school leaders is to provide the best instruction for our students. We must stand up for the ability to let teachers teach, students learn and parents provide input. And if/when we’re wrong, we should own up to that as well.
Contributed by our Founder Jerry Brodsky
School principals, superintendents and school boards regularly face complaints from parents about curricular materials. That, in itself, is nothing new. But today, the publicity surrounding the complaints may be different. How you handle parent complaints shouldn’t be a problem if you simply follow your own rules and sensibilities. Here’s our How To for this when it comes your way:
1. Recognize that parents may voice an objection to a specific book, chapter, page or conversation in any classroom. But at the same time, we wouldn’t get very far if every parent’s objection had us scurrying around defending or pulling out materials our teachers use to teach. So, simply follow your own board policies and sensibilities.
2. When you receive a complaint, be polite and responsive, but act deliberately and in compliance with your own rules. Respond to the complaint with a simple thank you and the fact that you will follow up as per board policy.
3. Know your board policy and if you don’t have one, model after the recommended policies from your regional, state, or national school boards organization.
4. Typically, board policies set out a procedure for handling complaints about books or materials and teacher presentations. These policies usually call for the forming of a committee representing several constituencies to review the complaint.
5. Be sure to place people on the committee who are moderate in their approach to parenting, represent the larger set of parents and community members, and are open to opinions from any side of an issue.
6. The committee will gather information including recommendations regarding the material from professional sources, they will read the book or material in question, and they will collectively make a recommendation to the principal/superintendent/school board, regarding the item in question.
7. The deciding person/board will then take the recommendation including the information regarding the sources the committee considered in reaching their recommendation, read the book or material in question, and decide simply if the committee’s recommendation is supported by its deliberative process.
8. If, as is likely in most situations, it is found the committee did its due diligence and properly considered appropriate perspectives on the item in question, then its recommendation should be followed.
Community Follow-Up:
When discussing these matters in public, be honest:
*No one thinks we should expose young people to salacious materials or grossly insensitive statements.
*There are books, including dictionaries and the Bible, that include words and actions that, when singled out, can be problematic. In context, these words and actions are about growing one's vocabulary and learning life lessons.
*As a child gets older, part of our efforts as parents and teachers is to help them navigate the world as it is and will be, not as it was at one time.
*Most parents support teachers and the school board's approved curriculum. Making instruction optional may be an easy road to take but may not be in the child's best interest long term.
Keep in mind that instruction is not a popularity contest, but it should consider its community’s values and expectations as a whole. Teachers are professionally trained and often stretch their students to teach them the value of thinking and learning; sometimes that creates some dissonance especially for parents who want to largely control what their children are exposed to, which is to varying degrees a natural parenting exercise.
Our job as school leaders is to provide the best instruction for our students. We must stand up for the ability to let teachers teach, students learn and parents provide input. And if/when we’re wrong, we should own up to that as well.
Contributed by our Founder Jerry Brodsky
!HELP! is a series of common scenarios that confront schools today and our attempt to help schools and administrators deal with them. We will add new scenarios periodically. If you have a suggestion of one you would like to see, please let us know.
Contact us for further and individualized assistance.
This provides only general information.
Contact us for further and individualized assistance.
This provides only general information.