GREENE — Directors of Maine School Administrative District 52 approved the first reading of proposed changes to the policy for instructional materials Thursday.

School administrators are proposing sweeping changes to the Selection of Educational Materials Policy, looking to essentially split it into a Selection of Instructional Materials Policy and a Selection of Library Materials Policy.

The Instructional Materials Policy was approved but board members decided to table discussion on the Library Materials Policy until the next meeting. The changes essentially place more stipulations around how materials are selected for instruction and the library, along with how to contest selected materials.

The Instructional Material Policy remains similar to the current policy but better emphasizes that relevant research regarding the efficacy of materials should be used in the selection process. The policy also applies to materials purchased or provided by staff.

There is a detailed process for how parents can exempt their children from required instruction — from meetings with staff and administrators to an appeal hearing regarding a decision on their “reconsideration” request, as it will now be called. A committee will also review the request, should it get that far.

If a reconsideration request reaches the school board, it will determine whether to maintain, remove or relocate the instructional material.

Director Anthony Shostak of Greene took issue that the policy did not state that there should be no sexually explicit material in schools, nor did the policies mention anything about obscenity. He was the only Policy Committee member who did not support the changes.

He proposed a couple of changes to bar “sexually explicit” materials from instruction, which failed to pass.

Policy Committee member Jaime Johnson of Turner thought the subjectivity of the term “sexually explicit,” which has no legal definition, would require staff to define the term, which could place an undue burden on them, she said.

Director Ashley Michaud of Turner suggested the district establish a definition for sexually explicit.

Superintendent Cari Medd said the term is too vague to have in a policy, but the term obscene could be used. However, she said, it still does not mean that certain material will be pulled from the curriculum.

Directors passed the Instruction Materials Policy with further changes proposed by Chairman Joseph McLean of Leeds.

McLean’s first suggestion was to add the “shall not be obscene or contain obscenity,” which passed 5-4.

His second proposal was to add “to take into consideration the level of obscenity, sexually explicit and pervasive vulgar content” to the criteria section, pending consultation with legal counsel. It passed 8-1.

There has been a push by a group of people to ban or remove certain material they feel is obscene or inappropriate and has sexual descriptions or innuendos,  particularly materials containing stories of characters in the LGBTQ community.

About a half-dozen residents objected to the policy changes, saying they don’t go far enough to prevent obscene or sexually explicit material in schools.

A few residents and teachers supported the changes, saying they were fair and offered a concise process of how materials are selected for instruction and the library.

A Leavitt Area High School senior spoke of their struggles as a member of the LGBTQ community, the prejudice they have faced and called for more education on the subject.

Directors will take up the proposed Library Materials Policy at its next meeting June 13. They scheduled a meeting June 20 to complete work on both proposed policies.