The Francis Howell School District board on Jan. 15 temporarily paused the timelines in its media-challenge regulation while administration and library media specialists review 38 active challenges to determine whether titles meet the district's weeding criteria.

Superintendent Jason Delaney told the board the district initially reported about 37 challenges but, after a closer review, identified 38 titles that are actively being challenged by a single patron. "The overall number of active challenges from this one patron is actually 38 books," Delaney said, noting committees, purchase needs and staff time would make simultaneous reviews impractical.

The pause, passed by the board after debate, directs administration and library specialists to apply the weeding procedures outlined in regulation 63-10 and report back at the February meeting on any titles removed from school learning commons. The motion does not remove titles automatically; Delaney said the review could find some books meet the routine weeding criteria (outdated, worn or not curriculum-relevant) and be removed without the full review committee process.

Patron testimony framed the urgency. Melanie Rinke described frustrations serving on a review committee and criticized the policy's many steps: "I was asked to be part of one of the book review committees...the policy says the principal can work with the parent to implement something, but that's not good enough because they want to control what my kid reads," she said. Author and community member Shana Youngdahl urged the pause and a policy change so challengers must first have read the titles they contest: "The recent surge in book challenges is coming from just two people," she said, calling the challenges politically motivated rather than pedagogical.

Board members discussed the logistics and costs of convening multiple nine-person review committees at once. Administration estimated roughly $4,000 to purchase the number of extra copies that committees would require if free copies could not be located. Several trustees also raised concerns that the current regulation places an unsustainable demand on volunteers and teacher time.

An amendment to the pause motion that would have required the pause to end at the February meeting failed on a roll call. The main motion to temporarily pause the timelines while administration conducts the initial weeding review passed by voice vote. Delaney said the administration will return in February with an update on which titles, if any, were removed under the weeding process and recommend next steps for remaining challenges.

The board's action stops short of changing policy immediately. Members agreed to ask the policy committee to review the regulation with an eye toward making the process workable for large volumes of challenges while preserving community members' rights to raise concerns.

What happens next: Administration will run the weeding review with library staff and report the results at the board's February meeting. The board could then direct additional steps, including forming review committees, asking the board to vote individually on titles, or proposing policy revisions.