1. PURPOSE AND PHILOSOPHY
   State law requires the Utah State Board of Education (USBE) to establish Core Standards to identify what individual students should be able to know and do at each grade level and for each discipline. The Weber School District Board of Education has the legal responsibility to adopt or approve instructional materials for use in all elementary and secondary schools. The Board delegates to the professional staff the responsibility for evaluating, selecting, and recommending learning materials, reserving to the Board of Education the right to approve or disapprove the final recommendation. 
   
   
2. POLICY
   Weber School District will adopt learning materials that are in alignment with the content and instructional philosophies of the Utah State Core Curriculum and the Utah Effective Teaching Standards. These materials will be used as the principal instructional resource and will provide comprehensive coverage of the course content. Additionally, all adopted instructional programs must be in alignment with the Board’s adopted mission and goals, state laws, and the State Board of Education rules. 
   
   
3. DEFINITIONS
   1. "Learning material" means any learning material or resource used to deliver or support a student's learning, including textbooks, reading materials, videos, digital materials, websites, and other online applications used for any purpose, excluding the school library. This includes in-classroom collections, sometimes referred to as “Classroom Libraries.” (For policy governing the School Libraries, see Policy 8200, Library/Media Selection and Reconsideration). Learning material includes “instructional material” and “supplemental learning material” as defined below.
   2. "Instructional Material" means learning material that the Weber School District Board of Education adopts and approves for use within the Weber School District. Instructional Materials are the resources used by educators to promote student learning and may include digital and/or print resources. Instructional Material does not include learning material used in a concurrent enrollment, advanced placement or international baccalaureate program or class or another class with required instructional material that is not subject to selection by the Weber School District Board of Education.
   3. "Supplemental learning material" means learning material that:
      1. A school or educator selects for classroom use; and
      2. The Weber School District Board of Education has not considered and adopted, approved, or prohibited for classroom use within Weber School District.
   4. "Sensitive material" means a material that is pornographic or indecent material as that term is defined in UCA §76-10-1235, 76-10-1201, 76-10-1203, and 76-10-1227.
      1. “Sensitive material” does not include non-fiction material:
         1. selected for the Human Sexuality curriculum;
         2. for medical courses;
         3. for family and consumer science courses; or
         4. for another course the Utah State Board of Education (“USBE”) exempts in USBE rule.
         5. Non-fiction material exempted under this section may contain fictional components used to explain a concept.
   5. “Age Appropriate” means generally suitable for students of the same age or level of social, emotional, and cognitive development when taking into consideration the ages of all minors who will use the material. In determining whether instructional material is age-appropriate, the material must be reviewed as a whole to determine whether it has serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for a student of that age.
   6. “Educational Suitability” means, based on a wide array of diverse and objective criteria, the material is suitable for students.  Some material may be educationally suitable for high school students, but not for elementary students.
   7. “Prohibited material” means:
      1. sensitive material,
      2. material removed from a Library /media center collections under the procedures identified in Policy 8200,
      3. or any material that has been identified by the Weber School District Board of Education or designees as prohibited for classroom use.
   8. “Content Standards” means the Utah State Core Curriculum and Utah Effective Teaching Standards.
   9. “Online Resource” means any online learning material that the District does not contract with to provide services, does not control and contains a potentially infinite number of accessible materials.
   10. “Concurrent Enrollment Course”
   11. “Advanced Placement Course”  
       
       
4. LEARNING MATERIAL SELECTION AND DESELECTION
   1. Learning Materials Generally
      1. Each school shall have the discretion to select learning materials for use by the school. A school may select learning materials recommended by the USBE or other learning materials it considers appropriate to teach the standards. Further, a principal may refer the evaluation of the materials to the Instructional Material Review Committee. The person or body evaluating the materials shall consider whether the materials meet all required standards. 
      2. Schools must follow all established purchasing and inventory procedures.
      3. In compliance with UCA §53G-4-402 (24)(a)(iii)(B), nothing in this policy shall prohibit the Weber School District Board of Education from prohibiting specific material within schools.
      4. Any use of online resources requires that:
         1. The District shall maintain an internet content filter in compliance with federal CIPA regulations
         2. The educator uses District approved digital citizenship practices.
         3. The educator provide appropriate supervision while the online resources are being used in the school building
         4. Schools and the District may only use those approved through the district’s software approval process and for which a Data Privacy Agreement has been signed, if necessary.
   2. Requirements for Learning Material used in Weber School District:
      1. All Learning Material must be:
         1. Aligned to the Utah Core Standards or specified course standards and Weber School Board Policies;
         2. Of high quality, evidence-based, and proven effective in supporting student learning;
         3. In compliance with the Weber School District Data Privacy Agreement, Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA), and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA);
         4. Accurate and factual;
         5. Age-appropriate with varying levels of learning;
         6. Free of biases and stereotypes related to sex, race, ethnicity, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity;
         7. Objective and balanced in perspective; and
         8. Free of sensitive materials;
      2. In addition to the above, the District and educators will make every effort to select learning material that includes the following criteria:
         1. Representative of the contributions from various authors, artists, or other content experts that express diverse viewpoints, cultures, ethnic backgrounds, and experiences;
         2. Designed to support personalized competency-based learning (PCBL);
         3. Compatible with all District technology and operating systems;
         4. Grade-level accessible, with scaffolding, to all students;
         5. Regularly reviewed and updated or replaced as necessary to meet the changing needs of students and teachers.
   3. Selection of Supplemental Learning Material
      1. Teachers have the autonomy to select Supplemental Learning Materials such as text, digital, audio, etc., so long as they meet the requirements established in Section IV.A. of this policy.  However, an administrator may, at any time, prohibit certain Supplemental Learning material for any reason.  
      2. Supplemental Learning Materials should be used to enhance a learning objective and must be directly related to the Utah Core Content Standards.
      3. Educators should first consider learning material within the USBE Recommended Instructional Materials (“RIMS”) for any selection. If an educator selects Supplemental Learning Material that is not an online resource or that is not selected from RIMS, the educator must read or review the material in its entirety before it can be made available to students.
      4. Prohibited materials shall not be selected as Supplemental Learning Material.
      5. Educators must exercise caution when selecting Supplemental Learning Materials and shall align with the school's educational goals, the local community standards, and the unique needs of their students. The District Curriculum Department may develop protocol and evaluation tools to assist educators with this alignment for specific classes. 
      6. If an educator is uncertain whether Supplemental Learning Material is prohibited by law or if the Supplemental Learning Material is a new novel, movie, dramatic, or musical performance/production that has not been recently taught, and that will be taught in its entirety, the educator must consult with the school administrator and/or district administration before using it.
      7. In compliance with UCA §53G-4-402 (24)(e), any contract for Supplemental Learning Material that includes online or digital materials must include a provision that the provider give notice to the District for any material changes, excluding regular informational updates on current events.
   4. Selection of Instructional Material
      1. Learning material selected or supported at the District level is considered Instructional Material and must be adopted and approved by the Weber School District Board of Education in an open meeting in compliance with UCA §53G-4-402.
      2. When Instructional Materials have exceeded their educational usefulness, in the event the district opts not to select learning materials from the Utah State Board of Education Recommended Instructional Materials System (RIMS) list, a detailed solicitation for new and current learning materials in the form of a Request for Proposal (RFP) will be publicly posted for a reasonable period of time.
      3. A District Instructional Material Review Committee (“District Review Committee”) made up of the content specialist or teacher leader, the Curriculum Director, two or more teachers, and at least one administrator will review submissions in response to the RFP to determine if the learning materials meet the requirements of the solicitation for learning material bids. Any submissions that do not meet these requirements will be eliminated.
      4. An Instructional Material Review Committee, separate from the District Review Committee, will provide recommendations of learning material to the Board for adoption as instructional material for the district.
      5. The Instructional Material Review Committee will be comprised of:
         1. an odd number of content specialists or teacher leaders;
         2. educators (who actively teach the grade or course for which the Instructional Materials are being considered);
         3. parents (with a student enrolled in the grade or course for which instructional materials are being considered);
         4. at least one school administrator from a school where the grade or course for which the instructional materials are being considered is taught;
         5. a representative from the Weber School District Board of Education;
         6. a member of the Technical Services Department;
         7. the Curriculum Director and other members as necessitated by the nature and scope of the adoption;
         8. Instructional Material Review Committee members must be carefully selected so as to equitably represent all cones, schools, teachers, parents, etc.
            1. Teachers serving as Instructional Material Review Committee members must be approved by their building administrator(s). 
            2. Potential Instructional Materials will be evaluated based on the district textbook adoption rubric, or a modified version of such which can provide a more appropriate evaluation for a given subject area.
            3. Committee members will attend vendor presentations with question and answer sessions from any vendors that make it through the initial review process.
            4. Stakeholders must have an opportunity to review the potential instructional materials prior to the Instructional Material Review Committee making a recommendation to the Board.
            5. If the Instructional Material Review Committee selects learning material that is not on RIMS, the instructional material must be read or reviewed in its entirety by the Instructional Material Review Committee before it is recommended to the Board.
            6. The Instructional Material Review Committee uses the scores from evaluations, presentations, potential pilots, etc. to make recommendations to the overall group. The scores are compiled and products are ranked for recommendation to the Board.
      6. Learning material currently being recommended for adoption will be announced on the board meeting agenda.
      7. At least two public meetings will be held before adopting or approving the recommended learning material to be adopted as Instructional Material, to provide two opportunities for District educators and parents of students enrolled in Weber School District to express views and opinions on the recommendation prior to Board adoption. Once learning materials have been adopted by the Board, they are considered “Instructional Materials.”
      8. Instructional Materials selected by the Instructional Material Review Committee and approved by the Board must be used as the base curriculum across the District.
   5. Selection of Learning Materials for Concurrent Enrollment and A.P. Courses
      1. Will comply with College Board of A.P. Board
      2. Concurrent Enrollment will approve their own curriculum
   6. Deselection and Removal
      1. Any learning material identified as sensitive material or prohibited material under Policy 8200, shall also be removed from use as learning material unless:
         1. that learning material is non-fiction material:
            1. selected for the Human Sexuality curriculum:
            2. for medical courses;
            3. for family and consumer science courses; or
            4. for another course the state board exempts in state board rule.
            5. non-fictional material exempted under this section may contain fictional components used to explain a concept.
      2. Materials may be deselected
         1. that do not meet the requirements for material selection, or
         2. do not currently align or relate to the subject curriculum or educational goals of the course.
            
            
5. TRANSPARENCY 
   1. All Instructional material used by Weber School District shall be readily accessible and available for a parent to view, in compliance with UCA §53G-4-402 (24)(b)(i).

Approved 12/6/2023