As kids gear up to go back to school across the Bay area, a new law has been passed that will allow more people to file complaints over public school instructional materials.

  • New law allows more people to file 'school instructional materials' complaints
  • Parents not only ones allowed to file complaints

In the past, only parents could file objections to instructional materials used in classrooms and libraries. Under bull 989, any resident can now file an objection, but that doesn’t mean those materials are more likely to be removed.

The new law requires school districts to hire a qualified non-employee to hear those complaints. That person will present the case to the school board.

“A hearing officer will be the ultimate person to decide whether the objection has evidence or not,” Wendy Dodge, Legislative Affairs Director, said.

Whether to make any changes will be up to the elected school board—the same folks that already decide such issues.

Lawmakers contend the law ads a layer of transparency to what can be a contentious issue, but in most counties, including Polk, not many people actually challenge instructional materials.

“We have had very few complaints. I would say one a year maybe. We don’t always have complaints,” Dodge said.

So far the school district hasn’t spent any money on hiring one of those hearing officers. The district said they will not do that until somebody actually files a complaint.