Board Policy IFA Instructional Materials and Content

                                                                                                     Board Policy Manual
                                                                                             DeKalb County School District

 Board Policy IFA: Instructional Materials and Content                                                      Status: ADOPTED

 Original Adopted Date: 10/09/2000 | Last Revised Date: 04/14/2008 | Last Reviewed Date: 04/14/2008


Instructional Materials
INSTRUCTIONAL MEDIA AND EQUIPMENT
MISSION: To ensure that students become effective users of ideas and information by providing access to
instructional media (textbooks, library media materials, supplementary materials, and instructional equipment) in all
formats essential for academic success in all courses taught in DeKalb County schools and centers.
Instructional media shall consist of textbooks, library media materials (print and non-print media and electronic
resources), course guides pursuant to Policy IC, and supplementary materials needed to achieve the perennial and
annual instructional goals of the system. Instructional materials shall support the delivery of Board adopted
curriculum and meet the full range of students’ ability and interest levels in pursuit of becoming lifelong learners.
Qualified professional personnel shall select all instructional media.
      1a.

      Textbooks shall be selected on an approved schedule under the leadership of a textbook committee appointed
      by the Superintendent. Parents and patrons shall be invited to review texts and ancillary materials under
      consideration by the committee(s) and to provide input into the decision-making process. The committee shall
      present recommendation for textbook adoptions to the Superintendent. The Superintendent shall present
      recommendations for textbook adoptions to the DeKalb County Board of Education.
      1b.
      The DeKalb County School System shall provide, where available, the appropriate instructional manuals
      (produced by publishers of textbooks used in the DeKalb County School System) for the subject-area teachers
      to use.
      2.
      Library media center instructional media and equipment shall be selected in accordance with Selection
      Guidelines of Library Media Center Materials and Equipment , posted in IFA~E(3). . All non-school owned
      print and non-print materials utilized in the instructional program by teachers, students, and guest presenters
      shall be supportive of the adopted curriculum for the course being taught. Use of all instructional materials
      (school owned and nonschool owned) shall be in accordance with the federal copyright law (Title 17, United
      States Code, Public Law 94-553, 90 Stat. 2541, as amended) and its guidelines and interpretations. Disposition
      of gifts and unusable materials and equipment shall be administered in accordance with existing policies and
      procedures.
In accordance with the Georgia Board of Education Rule 160-4-4-.01 MEDIA PROGRAMS (Code: IFBD), each school
shall have a plan for flexibly scheduled media center access for teachers and students in groups or individuals
simultaneously throughout each school day. Accessibility shall refer to the facility, staff, and the resources and shall
be based on instructional need. The Board of Education endorses the philosophy of flexible scheduling.
School-owned instructional library media shall be age appropriate and shall be organized and circulated from the
library media center. Textbooks and classroom supplemental instructional materials purchased with categorical
funds and items useful only in one specific instructional content area may not be included in this category.
Comprehensive media resources shall be available to support the instructional program including Georgia Board of
Education (GBOE) approved courses offered outside of regular instructional time.
The building-level library media committee shall be actively involved in the selection of library media center materials
and equipment. Membership of building-level library media committees and the system-level library media
committee shall be selected in accordance with the Georgia Board of Education Rule 160-4-4-.01. Operation of the
committees shall be in accordance with the Procedures for the Implementation of the DeKalb County Instruction
Media and Equipment (IFA~R). Program accountability through record keeping, documentation, and evaluation shall
be monitored by the building-level and system-level library media committees.
In the event an objection or challenge occurs concerning instructional media in the school system, the Challenged
Materials section of the Procedures for the Implementation of the DeKalb County Instructional Media and
Equipment (IFA~R) shall be followed by the building-level and system-level library media committees, the
Superintendent, and the DeKalb County Board of Education.
The library media program shall have adult supervision throughout the instructional day as required in GBOE Rule
160-5-1-.22 PERSONNEL REQUIRED (Code: CGB). DCSS library media programs shall be implemented in
accordance with Information Power: Building Partnerships for Learning (ALA, 1998) whose guidelines state , “In every
school, a minimum of one full-time, certified library media specialist supported by qualified staff is fundamental to
the implementation of an effective library media program at the building level” (Information Power, Principal 2, page
103). The Department of Educational Media and local school library media programs shall adhere to all local Board
policies, Georgia Board of Education Rules, regional standards, and state and federal laws.

COPYRIGHTED MATERIALS, USE AND DUPLICATION OF
MISSION: To ensure that DeKalb County School System employees comply with the Federal Copyright Law.
All use and duplication of copyrighted materials by DeKalb County School System employees must be done with
permission of the copyright holder or within the bounds of “public performance” and "fair use" that provide very
limited, defined opportunities for educators to use and make copies under certain highly-restrictive conditions.
When there is uncertainty about what constitutes “public performance” or "fair use," the Department of Educational
Media should be contacted for assistance.

MANUALS, INSTRUCTIONAL
MISSION: To provide instructional manuals for all teachers.
The DeKalb County School System shall provide the appropriate instructional manuals if available (produced by
publishers of textbooks used in the DeKalb County School System) for all subject-area teachers to use.

ADOPTED:           05/2008
LAST REVISED:      05/2008