Despite the care taken to select valuable materials for student and teacher use and the qualifications of the persons who may select the materials, occasionally objections to material may be made by the public.
If a complaint is made, the procedures are as follows:
- Invite the complainant to file their objections in writing and offer to send them the following prepared questionnaire:
- Inform the Head of the school division receiving the complaint, the Headmaster of Gilman School, and the Director of Strategic Information and Innovation.
- The media committee (which includes Gilman School librarians, the English Department Head, a Language Arts teacher at the division level from which the complaint originated, and a subject specialist from that division) will:
- Read and examine materials referred to it.
- Check general acceptance of the materials by reading reviews.
- Weigh values and faults against each other and form opinions based on the materials as a whole and not passages pulled out of context.
- Meet to discuss the material and to prepare a report on it.
- Submit a copy of the report to the Headmaster and the Head of the school division receiving the complaint.
The principles of the freedom to read, view, and listen and of the professional responsibility of the Gilman School faculty must be defended – rather than the materials.