For the record, students at Winston Churchill High School are not required to purchase textbooks for Advanced Placement classes and never were required to do so. So stated a letter that was sent out to parents last week from principal Joan Benz.
In the letter, Benz wrote that buying textbooks is not a mandated practice at the school.
"While students are not required to buy textbooks, some students may choose to buy the books because it allows them to create margin notes and annotations in the text," Benz wrote in the letter dated July 27, and received by parents early last week. "If students do not choose to purchase textbooks, there are other strategies students can use in the class that are also effective in mastering the material."
The letter was sent to parents whose children are registered for AP courses this fall. It did not explicitly address if or how parents can seek refunds if they have already bought textbooks for their children either this year or in the past.
Al Jordan, a Churchill parent, said in an e-mail this week that he received Benz's letter.
"The letter seems to suggest that book purchase is voluntary and always has been. It is my understanding that AP students have been purchasing AP textbooks for more than five years," Jordan said. "From what I have read some parents are wondering where all the money from textbook purchases that the school(s) collected went, how the school accounted for them and how new MCPS AP textbooks, property of the county, came to be for sale in the first place. The letter appears to offer no refunds."
Sherry Liebes, community superintendent for the Churchill cluster of schools, said that families who have purchased textbooks can call the school to seek a refund. In those instances the books will become the property of the county and will go back into the general circulation of textbooks.
"So far, to the best of my knowledge, no one’s asked for a refund," said Liebes. "If they do they will receive one if that’s what they choose. As of Friday we had only received four calls and they were all just very general questions."
The letter does not explain the source of the confusion that has been brought to light in the last few weeks. In an interview last month, Michael D. Carroll, social studies resource teacher at Churchill, said that initially students were told buying textbooks was a preferred option. Over the last few years the suggestion changed tone.
"To be honest, what began as a recommendation became a requirement even though we made sure every student had a book regardless of whether or not they paid for it. It was not intentional, it just evolved that way," Carroll said. "The intention was always to deliver the best education [we] could."
Parents with questions about textbook refunds can call Benz’s office at 301-469-1221.