§ 115C-98. Local boards of education to provide for local operation of the textbook program, the selection and procurement of other instructional materials, and the use of nonadopted textbooks.
§ 115C‑98. Local boards of education to providefor local operation of the textbook program, the selection and procurement ofother instructional materials, and the use of nonadopted textbooks.
(a) Local boards of education shall adopt rules not inconsistentwith the policies of the State Board of Education concerning the localoperation of the textbook program.
(b) Local boards of education shall adopt written policiesconcerning the procedures to be followed in their local school administrativeunits for the selection and procurement of supplementary textbooks, librarybooks, periodicals, audiovisual materials, and other supplementaryinstructional materials needed for instructional purposes in the public schoolsof their units.
Local boards of education shall have sole authority to select andprocure supplementary instructional materials, whether or not the materialscontain commercial advertising, to determine if the materials are related toand within the limits of the prescribed curriculum, and to determine when thematerials may be presented to students during the school day. Supplementarymaterials and contracts for supplementary materials are not subject to approvalby the State Board of Education.
Supplementary books and other instructional materials shall neitherdisplace nor be used to the exclusion of basic textbooks.
(b1) A local board of education may establish a community mediaadvisory committee to investigate and evaluate challenges from parents,teachers, and members of the public to textbooks and supplementaryinstructional materials on the grounds that they are educationally unsuitable,pervasively vulgar, or inappropriate to the age, maturity, or grade level ofthe students. The State Board of Education shall review its rules and policies concerningthese challenges and shall establish guidelines to be followed by communitymedia advisory committees.
The local board, at all times, has sole authority and discretion todetermine whether a challenge has merit and whether challenged material shouldbe retained or removed.
(b2) Local boards of education may:
(1) Select, procure, and use textbooks that have not beenadopted by the State Board of Education for use throughout the local schooladministrative unit for selected grade levels and courses; and
(2) Approve school improvement plans developed under G.S. 115C‑105.27that include provisions for using textbooks that have not been adopted by theState Board of Education for selected grade levels and courses.
All textbook contracts made under this subsection shall include aclause granting to the local board of education the license to produce braille,large print, and audiocassette tape copies of the textbooks for use in thelocal school administrative unit.
(c) Funds allocated by the State Board of Education orappropriated in the current expense or capital outlay budgets of the localschool administrative units, may be used for the above‑stated purposes. (1969, c. 519, s. 1; 1981, c. 423, s. 1; 1989 (Reg.Sess., 1990), c. 1074, s. 23(a); 1995 (Reg. Sess., 1996), c. 716, ss. 8.7, 19.)