Trustees for the Canyon Independent School District on Sept. 8 debated revisions to policy EFB, the district’s library‑materials policy, and agreed to postpone final approval until the October meeting while staff and trustees refine language on grade‑level access and catalog removal.

Board members spent more than an hour on the policy after staff presented edits made following earlier board feedback. The draft now includes a process for handling a challenge and for restricting access by grade level; trustees asked for clearer wording that distinguishes a campus‑wide removal from a grade‑level restriction within a campus library catalog.

The discussion focused on how a challenged title can be handled: fully removed from the district catalog, or retained in the catalog but restricted so only specified grade levels can check it out. Trustees noted past reviews where the same title was allowed for upper‑grade students but considered inappropriate for younger students, and sought language that would allow such nuanced outcomes without creating contradictory instructions in the policy.

Trustees also debated operational details such as whether a restricted title should remain physically on campus in a secured area for use by older students, or be removed entirely, and how the catalog and circulation system would enforce any restriction. Staff said it is technically feasible to restrict checkout by grade level and to designate materials as “restricted” or to place them in a separate collection on campus.

Because the first sentence of the policy still said removal from the school catalog if a challenge is upheld, several trustees argued the opening paragraph should also explicitly allow the alternative outcome—limiting access by grade level—to match later language that authorizes denying access to affected grade levels. Trustees agreed the draft needs a single clear formulation that covers both outcomes.

Rather than adopt EFB that night, the board approved other policy updates but asked administration to circulate revised language to board members and return EFB for action at the Oct. 20 meeting.

Why it matters: The policy governs how parents, staff or community members can challenge library materials and how the district will determine grade‑level appropriateness or remove items. Trustees said they wanted a single, unambiguous procedure that preserves the ability to distinguish materials appropriate for older students from those appropriate for younger ones.

What happened next: The board approved related policy updates (Update 125 and FNCE) but postponed EFB so board members could review word‑smithing proposed in the meeting. Staff will circulate a revised draft before the October meeting.