School board Vice President Carol Cunningham defended the Catasauqua Area School District's policy on the selection of textbooks when two board members questioned the process being used.

Discussion of the textbook selection policy took place at last Wednesday's academics and education and policy committee meetings.

School board member Carol McCarthy expressed concern with the world history book recommended by the administration for advanced-placement Catasauqua High School students.

She said the difficulty of the textbook, coupled with the complexity of the class, may prove to be a hurdle for students.

"This book is wicked and it's not an easy read," she said. "Some areas are general and others specific. Content-wise it didn't 'wow' me."

CASD Director of Curriculum and Assessment Christina Lutz-Doemling explained the process by which textbooks are approved by the district.

She said, in regard to the latest round of textbooks, the process began last fall when six textbooks were proposed.

The district received input from teachers, department heads and students.

The six textbooks were later narrowed down to three. The district then sought quotes from all three book publishers.

Two of the sales representatives did not respond to the district's inquiry.

The district eventually decided to select Pearson Prentice-Hall as the publisher of the AP world history textbook.

"It was a very challenging process," Lutz-Doemling said. "Although a challenging book, students are familiar with Prentice-Hall's website and resources. We got a good deal on the book. The reviews were very favorable."

School board member Christine Naegel commented while she liked some of the material found in the textbook, other areas concerned her.

She indicated the book addresses other areas of world history, while neglecting or casually covering American history, such as the U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence.

She suggested more U.S. history be integrated into the curriculum.

"I liked a lot of what I saw, but if you don't include the U.S. Constitution, you're giving the wrong impression," she said.

According to Lutz-Doemling, CASD students study U.S. history during their eighth- and ninth-grade years.

Naegel also suggested three board members volunteer to review a textbook before it is approved.

Board Vice President Carol Cunningham pointed out it is the responsibility of the director of curriculum and assessment to review textbooks.

"That's why we have a director of curriculum and assessment and a committee of teachers in that area," she said.

Board member Mary Alice Hartranft agreed with Cunningham.

"If she [Naegel] wants to do that on her own, that's fine, but it shouldn't be a board thing," Hartranft said.

Cunningham added if school board members reviews a textbook they must also look at the core curriculum standards.

"If you're going to do that, you need to sit down with the standards," she said.

School district Superintendent Robert Spengler told board members it is the duty of the school board to review textbooks for maturity level, freedom from bias, community standards and costs.

He said the standards were inserted into a district policy back in 2005.

He also said a number of high school classes do not utilize textbooks.

No consensus was reached about a revision to the district policy on selecting textbooks.

Approval of the AP world history textbook and planned courses of study are on the Aug. 13 school board agenda.