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From book bans to gender-neutral bathrooms, culture wars have found a battlefield in Western Pennsylvania schools. National politics increasingly are influencing school boards, as party lines are splitting members over hot button issues such as sex education, trans rights and the appropriateness of classroom materials. School boards’ once-marginally attended monthly

Thirty books have been challenged by parents in the district, sparking a review process that kept some away from students.

New rules will govern books and other library materials at Hempfield Area School District, after the school board voted Monday to enact two policies defining what content is permitted on the district’s bookshelves. About 80 people attended the board meeting and more than a dozen residents spoke their opinions on

Hempfield Area School District residents and parents again talked about book challenges and bans as a policy governing the process awaits a final vote in two weeks. There were moments of cheering and applause during Monday’s school board meeting, where several residents talked about the proposed policies and some raised

School libraries would be required to post a list of requested new books a month ahead of time for the public and school board to review under new proposed revisions to book policies at Hempfield Area School District. The policy revisions for acquiring new school library materials and challenging the

After nearly 18 months of meetings, debates and changes, Hempfield Area School Board members sent two controversial policies back to their policy committee for additional tweaks. The policies are centered around the purchase of resource materials, with a particular focus on books available in the district’s libraries, and the procedure

Over the past two years, protests at schools have been on the rise. Aside from the push and pull about pandemic protocols, there also have been vocal demands about the content of curriculum and what is on the shelves of the libraries. Pennsylvania, in particular, has been a main battleground

The process for reevaluating challenged books and materials in Hempfield Area School District libraries could soon become more stringent after board members indicated they would like to model the policy after one used for Chromebooks. Rather than going through a process of informal and formal challenges, board members are hoping

A Philadelphia Democrat is working to reign in the number of book bans occurring at Pennsylvania schools as challenges continue at unprecedented rates. State Rep. Chris Rabb proposed legislation Tuesday that would establish uniform procedures for school boards to follow before they could eliminate a student’s access to a book.

Individuals who want to challenge a book or item they deem inappropriate in Hempfield Area School District would have more ways to do so under a policy proposed by the school board. Board members who sit on the district’s policy committee last week dove into a proposal that would tweak