[LM_NET] Does anyone have board policy that addresses unblocking web resources?

[dougj <dougj@DOUG-JOHNSON.COM>]

Hi folks,

I have always been so thankful that ALA/AASL and their local affiliates once
led the charge for all school boards to adopt formal "reconsideration"
policies and procedures to be used when educational materials have been
challenged. 

I know in our district, simply asking a parent, teacher or community fill
out a form that begins an official process after s/he objects to a book or
other resource has really separated those with a genuine concern from those
without. We have kept many books available to kids that would not be there
had not a reconsideration policy been in place. And that there is a
mechanism for books that don't meet true "community standards" to be
seriously discussed and dealt with.

I have used this same policy when there has been a request to block a
website as well. The requestor has to go through the same process as if s/he
were challenging a book.
 
Lately, however, I've been increasingly hearing about a different
"intellectual freedom" threat - the capricious blocking of websites without
any due process in place for making the decision to do so. And equally
troubling, there seems to be no official recourse in many districts for a
teacher, librarian, parent or student to challenge a decision made to block
a particular site. 
 
While CIPA's guidelines for what should be filtered are often broadly
interpreted, they can (and in my mind, should) be very narrowly interpreted
if one truly believes in the concept of intellectual freedom. Sites to be
blocked to meet CIPA guidelines must be "obscene, child pornography, or
harmful to minors." Reading that, it seems to me that the law covers only
sites of prurient interest or that are illegal. "Harmful to minors" is so
vague that it is meaningless. Choices of all other sites to be blocked are
left to the individual district.
 
If a district has chosen to block sites about evolution, games, webblogs,
hate groups, birth control, homosexuality, web-based e-mail, or who knows
what, does ALA/AASL or ISTE offer sample language that could be included in
board policy to challenge this blocking? In other words, is there a formal
"consideration" process that a district can and should adopt that would keep
control of website access out of the hands of a single individual or small
group in a school? Where, like with a book challenge, a standing committee
of a variety of stakeholders would review the material that a teacher,
student or parent wants access to, and then makes a recommendation to the
school board for a final disposition ruling?
 
Perhaps there is and I just don't know about it. I'd be grateful if someone
would educate me about this. If there isn't, what ALA/AASL or ISTE committee
ought to tackling the issue?

Does your school have language in its board policy for a method of
challenging the blocking of web sites? Is so, I'd like knowing about it.

Thanks,

Doug




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