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Board to consider district committee report Feb. 25 on parent challenge to 'The Hunger Games'
Summary
A parent requested that The Hunger Games be restricted to 9–12; the district-level review committee met and will report to the board. The board decided to hear the committee’s report and the parent’s case at a public meeting in February rather than convene an ad hoc trustee review panel.
A parent filed an instructional-materials complaint on Dec. 11, 2024, requesting that The Hunger Games be restricted to grades 9–12, the board was told on Jan. 28.
Under new state and district procedures, a school-level review committee met (the case was carried through winter break) and then a district committee met on Jan. 28 to review the school committee’s report. The district committee’s findings and recommendation were not yet available at the Jan. 28 meeting; staff said the district report will be provided to the board in advance of a public hearing.
Per district policy (KEC/KECR) and the state instructional-materials regulation, a quorum of the board must hold a public meeting within 90 days of receiving the complaint and vote to grant or deny — in whole or in part — the relief requested by the complainant. On Jan. 28 trustees agreed to follow the written process and to consider the district committee’s report at the Feb. 25 public meeting. The complainant will have an opportunity to present at that public meeting.
Board members discussed whether to form an internal ad hoc trustee review committee to read the book and report to the full board, but several trustees said the district-level review panel (which includes a school librarian, a parent and community members) had convened and that its report should be the basis for the public hearing. One trustee volunteered to review the book independently but the board declined to create a new ad hoc committee.
What’s next: The district committee’s report and recommendation will be published before the Feb. 25 public meeting, when the board must vote to grant or deny the parent’s request or to modify relief. No board action was taken Jan. 28; the board will hear the complaint and the district committee’s recommendation at its February meeting.
