Board members held an extended work-session discussion on Oct. 15 about a draft policy (IJ) intended to consolidate several existing instructional- and library-related policies and to clarify how the district selects, adopts and responds to challenges about instructional materials and library resources.

What the draft would do
Director Jason Jorgensen (introduced the item) said the proposal is intended to simplify an array of overlapping policies into one document so families and administrators have a single point of reference. "One clear policy for families. Also, one clear policy for our admin team," he said, explaining the goal of consolidating about 11 former I-series items into a single IJ and associated regulation.

Legal and process questions raised
Board members and staff repeatedly referenced a new state requirement discussed in the packet. Dr. X noted that the state legislature enacted a law earlier in 2025 that affects board obligations: the law requires a policy IJ and, in many districts, a public reconsideration mechanism by a statutory deadline. Jorgensen and legal/administrative staff told the board they will consult Colorado Association of School Boards (CASB) guidance and legal counsel as the draft is revised.

Directors urged clarity on several points. Director Art said CASB's recent guidance recommends separating instructional-materials policy from library resources (IJL) and warned the district's draft should preserve language ensuring professional selection criteria, literary merit and support for historically underrepresented voices. He also noted the draft's treatment of who may request reconsideration and asked the board to preserve procedural transparency.

Board-level and operational roles
District staff said the draft IJ would set 30,000-foot guardrails and that the superintendent would be tasked with writing the implementing regulation (the operational process for staff to follow). Staff emphasized the implementing regulation would define the step-by-step reconsideration process parents must use, periodic inventory practices, age-appropriateness guidelines and the technical details the board-level policy intentionally avoids.

Miller test and other legal references
During discussion, a director referenced the Miller standard (from court precedent) for obscenity and discussed a recent out-of-state ruling indicating that public school libraries are not public forums for First Amendment claims; directors emphasized the need to align district policy with existing law and CASB model language rather than trying to restate complex legal tests in a policy.

Next steps
Directors asked district staff to collect concise proposed sentence-level edits to the draft IJ (for example, adding explicit language about preserving library programs and professional selection criteria), route the revised draft to legal counsel, and return the redline and clean version for board consideration before an action vote. The board did not vote; the item will be edited and brought forward in a later meeting for action.

Ending
Board members asked staff to compare CASB's recent IJ and IJL recommendations, incorporate statutory requirements for reconsideration procedures, and return with a legally reviewed draft and recommended regulation that clarifies operational steps for parents, librarians and administrators.