Hanover School Board approves policy regarding use of school educational resources
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The Hanover School Division board has approved a policy that regulates the use of school educational resources after they claim they had complaints from parents, teachers, and students.
Policy AK – Responsible Use of Educational Resources was passed during the June 2 meeting. Board chair Dallas Wiebe read the introduction of the policy, which stated “the board affirms its commitment to ensure that all education materials are accessible (to) students are age appropriate and supportive of educational outcomes.”
“The policy is not intended to restrict legitimate educational inquiries, discussions, or the study of diverse ideas, but to ensure that materials are presented in a manner that is age appropriate, educationally relevant and consistent with student wellbeing. This policy applies to all educational resources and all staff at Hanover School Division.”
Governance chair Jeff Friesen cited the Criminal Code, the Public Schools Act, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, as well as Hanover policies AH (Responsible Use of Technology) and AG (Safe and Caring Schools) as being referenced in the policy.
After the meeting, Wiebe told The Carillon that the policy had been in the works for about two years by the board.
“We had different materials that were graphic and we’ve also had materials posting things that were inappropriate,” he said, but refused to give examples of what he meant by graphic and inappropriate. “These were things that were brought up by parents, a number of different things, parents, students, teachers. We heard from all kinds where materials were inappropriate and not by a small margin, I’ll leave it at that.”
Wiebe said materials could be books, magazines, or videos from YouTube or other online videos. He wouldn’t say whether the materials were already in the schools or if teachers or students were bringing in these materials into the schools.
He wouldn’t speak as to who would deem the resources acceptable or not and advised The Carillon to look to the policy as “it’s all in there.” He promised to give an interview following the posting of the policy online. According to the division, the policy won’t be posted until Friday or later so The Carillon couldn’t review the document in time for press.