KY schools must create complaint system for ‘harmful’ material. How it will work

By July 1, as a result of a new state law, local Kentucky school boards must adopt a policy to address complaints submitted by parents alleging that material, a program or an event is harmful to minors.

The Kentucky Department of Education has released guidance on the law, called Senate Bill 5, which requires schools to ensure that a student whose parent has filed a complaint does not have access to the material.

During the recent 2023 General Assembly, critics called the new law “a book banning bill” while its supporters say it is about protecting children from obscene materials in school.

Under the legislation, sponsored by state Sen. Jason Howell, R-Murray, “harmful to minors” means materials, programs or events that:

• Contain the exposure, in an obscene manner, of the unclothed or apparently unclothed human male or female genitals, pubic area, or buttocks or the female breast, or visual depictions of sexual acts or simulations of sexual acts, or explicit written descriptions of sexual acts;
• Taken as a whole, appeal to the prurient interest in sex; or
• Is patently offensive to prevailing standards regarding what is suitable for minors.

Each school’s principal must oversee the complaint resolution process.

Complaints must be submitted in writing to the principal where the student is enrolled and include the name of the person filing it.

Complaints must also include a reasonably detailed description of the material, program or event and how it is believed to be harmful to minors.

Within seven business days of receiving a written complaint, the school principal must review it and take reasonable steps to investigate the allegations, including but not limited to reviewing the material, program or event that is alleged to be harmful.

The school principal shall determine whether the complaint is valid.

The school principal must determine whether student access to the material shall remain, be restricted or be removed and must determine whether a program or event that is the subject of the complaint shall be eligible for future participation by students in the school.

Within 10 business days of receiving the complaint, the school principal shall confer with the parent and inform them of whether the material in their complaint was determined to be harmful to minors and what the resolution will be.

Decision can be appealed

Parents can appeal the decision to the local board of education and can speak publicly about it during a school board meeting.

The school board has to make a decision on the appeal within 30 days and discuss and vote on it in public.

The title of the material or event and the vote cast by each individual board member must be published on the website of the local board of education where it must remain available for review. The title and vote will be published in the newspaper with the largest circulation in the county.

If the material, program or event remains in place or is eligible for future participation, the parent or guardian may request in writing that an alternative be provided for the child.

The school has to ensure that the student whose parent or guardian has made a request does not have access to the material or is not allowed to participate in the program or event.

A parent who did not file the appeal may also request in writing access to the appealed materials, programs or events for review.