Reporting And Investigating Prohibited Concepts

(1) LEAs or public charter schools are best positioned to choose which textbooks and instructional materials meet the needs of their students, educators, and community. Pursuant to T.C.A. § 49-6-2207, LEAs are required to utilize local textbook and instructional materials adoption committees to review textbooks proposed for district wide adoption by the school district from the list of textbooks and instructional materials adopted by the Textbook and Instructional Materials Quality Commission and approved by the Tennessee State Board of Education. Local review committees must be set up by grade and subject matter fields and composed of teachers, or supervisors and teachers, and parents with children enrolled in the LEA at the time of appointment to a committee. The local board of education may also appoint experts in the grade level or subject matter field for which textbooks and instructional materials are to be reviewed. Pursuant to T.C.A. § 49-13-107, each public charter school must include an academic plan as part of the charter school’s application that is approved by the charter authorizer. T.C.A. § 49-13-104 requires public charter school academic plans to include the teaching and classroom instruction methods and the materials and curriculum that will be used by the school. General complaints about the subject matter or age appropriateness of textbooks and instructional materials that do not allege that Prohibited Concepts are being or have been included or promoted in a course of instruction, curriculum, instructional program, or in supplemental instructional materials of an LEA or public charter school, must be filed with the LEA or public charter school pursuant to the LEA or public charter school’s locally adopted policy for addressing such complaints. (2) To file a complaint alleging that Prohibited Concepts are being or have been included or promoted in a course of instruction, curriculum and instructional program, or in supplemental instructional materials of an LEA or public charter school, a complainant must file a complaint with the LEA or public charter school in which the allegation(s) arose. An eligible complainant may, but is not required to, use the complaint form provided by the LEA or charter school, so long as the complaint contains the information required by Section 0520-12-04-.05(5). (3) To file a complaint, the complainant must be an eligible complainant. (4) The complaint must be filed within forty-five (45) calendar days of the Prohibited Concept being included or promoted in a course of instruction, curriculum and instructional program, or supplemental instructional materials, or within forty-five (45) calendar days of these Rules becoming effective. (5) The following information, in addition to any other information requested by the LEA or public charter school, shall be included in the complaint: (a) The name and contact information of the complainant; (b) A brief description of the Prohibited Concept at issue; (c) A brief statement on why the concept at issue is a Prohibited Concept; (d) If known, the name of the individual alleged to have included or promoted the Prohibited Concept; PROHIBITED CONCEPTS IN INSTRUCTION CHAPTER 0520-12-04 (e) The name of any individuals who may have knowledge of the allegations; (f) A list of any documentation or materials supporting the complainant’s allegations, including copies of such documentation or materials where possible; and (g) The date(s) on which the Prohibited Concept was included or promoted. (6) Upon receipt of a complaint, the LEA or public charter school shall determine whether it has the authority to investigate the complaint. The LEA or public charter school shall have the authority to investigate the complaint if: (a) The complaint alleges that a Prohibited Concept was included in a course of instruction, curriculum and instructional program, or supplemental instructional materials; (b) The complaint is filed by an eligible complainant; (c) The complaint is filed within forty-five (45) calendar days of the Prohibited Concept being included or promoted in a course of instruction, curriculum, instructional program, or supplemental instructional materials, or within forty-five (45) calendar days of these Rules becoming effective; and (d) The complaint contains the information in Section 0520-12-04-.05(5). (7) Within fifteen (15) calendar days of receiving the complaint, the LEA or public charter shall send a letter to the complainant explaining whether it has authority to investigate the complaint and will be initiating an investigation. An investigation is “initiated” when the LEA or public charter school sends a written notification to the complainant that the allegation(s) shall be investigated. (8) Within sixty (60) calendar days of receiving the complaint, the LEA or public charter school shall determine whether the allegation(s) in the complaint is substantiated. The allegation(s) in the complaint shall be “substantiated” if: (a) The LEA or public charter school determines that the concept at issue is a Prohibited Concept; and (b) The LEA or public charter school determines that the complained of individual affirmatively and intentionally included or promoted the concept at issue in a course of instruction, curriculum and instructional program, or supplemental instructional materials. (c) The sixty (60) calendar day timeline may only be extended upon approval by the Department if exceptional circumstances exist with respect to a particular complaint and those circumstances are appropriately documented. If there is a need for an extension to the sixty (60) calendar day timeline, the complainant shall be notified of this extension in writing by the LEA or public charter school prior to the expiration of the original sixty (60) calendar day deadline. (9) The LEA or public charter school shall issue a written determination stating whether the allegation(s) in the complaint is substantiated. The written determination shall be communicated to the complainant and the individual alleged to have included or promoted the Prohibited Concept. Such determination letters shall be subject to all applicable federal, state, and local student privacy laws and policies, including the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 C.F.R. Part 99). (10) If an alleged violation is substantiated, the LEA or public charter school shall take appropriate remedial action to ensure that the Prohibited Concept(s) is no longer included in a course of PROHIBITED CONCEPTS IN INSTRUCTION CHAPTER 0520-12-04 instruction, curriculum and instructional program, or supplemental instructional materials. In order to afford the complainant or the individual alleged to have included or promoted a Prohibited Concept an opportunity to appeal the decision to the Department, remedial action shall not be taken until fifteen (15) calendar days have passed after the date the LEA or public charter school issues the written determination. Such remedial action may include: (a) Amendment of the course of instruction, curriculum and instructional program, or supplemental instructional materials to address any purported violations of T.C.A. § 49- 6-1019; or (b) Disciplinary action against a teacher for violation of T.C.A. § 49-6-1019(a) in accordance with Tennessee State Board of Education rule 0520-02-03-.09. (11) The LEA or public charter school shall maintain, for five (5) years, an investigative file containing the complaint, the initiating letter, any interview notes, any electronic or physical evidence obtained, any other notes maintained by the investigator, and a copy of the written determination issued in the matter.