Charity has difficulty donating dictionaries to students due to new board book policy

The Rotary Club is known for spreading peace and goodwill. For the past 15 years, Southlake's chapter has gone to schools, introduced themselves to kids and handed them a gift. "It's a Webster's Student Dictionary, same book we've always used, you know they come out with a list of new words every so often, the school district told me, somehow they know there's 22 new words that have been added to the most current edition of the dictionary," said Sean Cerone, a member of the Rotary. Thanks to those 22 new words, the longstanding tradition in Southlake was put on hold. The district's new book policy requires the district to review all book donations, even the dictionary. One town over in Grapevine-Colleyville ISD, has a similar story. Parents held a book fair after the district refused to work with their book vendor any longer. The parent-led one, generated funds and more books.

"Based on sales you get a percentage back, you can take cash back, or based on sales you can get a bigger percentage back if you take book credits," said Kimberley Davis, organizer of the parent-led book fair. The parents offered their credits to Grapevine-Colleyville ISD to shop for new books, but say the district's board refused the credit and said they could give physical books but it's a lengthy 20-part process of review to get them in school. "We certainly meant for this to be helpful, not difficult," said Davis. Grapevine-Colleyville ISD said to us in a statement, "Gifts and donations are not exempt from the acquisition process in Board Policy EFB(LOCAL), which ensures that every new book has been read by individuals who are familiar with the policy. When books or materials are included on a list to be recommended for approval, that individual is confirming that the books/materials have been read and comply with GCISD policy."