The following procedures shall be employed in handling complaints concerning instructional material used in the Hyde Park Central School District such as but not limited to textbooks, library books, audio/visual and Internet resources.

1. Complaints should first be brought to the teacher or librarian who assigned or provided the book. The teacher or librarian will respond with two school days after receiving the complaint and will attempt to address the complaint while satisfying academic objectives.
2. If the teacher or librarian cannot resolve the complaint, she or he will direct the complainant to the appropriate administrator for appeal according to BOE Policy 1400.
3. Each administrator who receives the complaint will respond to the complainant within two school days after receiving it. If the complaint cannot be resolved, the administrator will direct the complainant to the appropriate administrator for appeal according to BOE Policy 1400.
4. At any point, if the complainant has not received a response within two days, he or she may contact the next administrator in the complaint hierarchy according to BOE Policy 1400.
5. A complaint submitted to the Superintendent must be submitted in writing using form 1420-E.1 to specify Schools and must include information to identify the material and the specific reasons for the complaint.
6. When a complaint is made to the Superintendent with 1420-E.1 that requests the material not be used for a specific student, the original teacher or librarian will be instructed to provide alternate material of comparable merit to the student.
7. The decision of the Superintendent may be appealed to the Board of Education. Such appeals must be made within ten days of the decision by the Superintendent of Schools and must include a copy of form 1420-E.1.
8. If the BOE requests a textbook review committee, the Superintendent will convene such a committee within fifteen school days. For complaints about secondary instructional material, the committee will include at least one member of the department that uses the material. For complaints about elementary instructional material, the committee will include at least one elementary teacher.
9. The opinon of the instructional materials review committee will be provided to the BOE in a timely fashion with form 1420-E.2 and will include a committee opinion on whether the material should continued to be used with or without restrictions or discontinued. Committee members who disagree with the committee opinion may attach a dissenting conclusion to form 1420-E.2
10. The Superintendent will inform the complainant in writing of the decision by the BOE within five school days.

Adoption date:

November 12, 1992

Revision date:

August 10, 2006

Adopted:

August 24, 2006

11 Boice Road
P. O. Box 2033
Hyde Park, NY 12538
(845) 229-4000
For Emergency Information (845) 229-4001
District Fax: 229-4056
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