Board to advertise revisions to media-selection policy after public comment on fairness and committee process

The Volusia County School Board on March 25 authorized advertisement of proposed amendments to School Board Policy 3-20, which governs selection and challenges to print and nonprint instructional materials. The vote to advertise followed public comments urging additional procedural clarifications and requests that parents be allowed to appeal both removal and retention decisions.

The draft policy removes a school-level review committee, creates standing district-level review committees (elementary, middle, high) and sets an open-meeting process for district reviews. It also codifies that titles may be removed districtwide if the district review committee determines a violation of Florida statute.

Why it matters: the revisions change how book objections are escalated and decided. Public speakers and community members asked the board to add a “fairness clause” allowing…