Board hears curriculum-adoption process and estimated costs; math adoption to require district funds
Loading...
Summary
District staff described how curriculum committees review and select resources, outlined expected personnel and substitute costs during development, and said a forthcoming math adoption is the most costly item in the near term (administration estimated approximately $2,000,000).
Bellevue Public Schools administrators described the district’s curriculum-adoption process to the Board of Education on May 5 and provided cost estimates for an upcoming math adoption and other subject adoptions.
Administrators said the math adoption will be the most expensive upcoming adoption and estimated the district cost at about $2,000,000 for materials and associated implementation expenses (staff time, substitutes for teachers serving on committees). “The math curriculum will probably cost the district about $2,000,000,” the presenter said.
Why it matters Curriculum adoptions are major, cyclical expenditures for school districts; administrators said major adoptions typically occur roughly every seven years and include resource purchases, teacher development and substitute costs while teachers serve on writing and review teams.
How the process works District staff described a multi-stage process: a call for volunteers followed by selection of 75–80 staff to represent grade levels and buildings, alignment of intended outcomes to state standards using a backwards-design (UBD) approach, vendor demonstrations, rubric-based evaluation of candidate resources, and multiple committee meetings (administrators said roughly nine to ten meetings, with smaller subgroups between full sessions). Teachers and specialists, including special education teachers and instructional coaches, evaluate materials and narrow vendor options to two or three finalists for deeper review.
Compensation and costs Administrators said most committee participation occurs during the school day and that substitute costs and opportunity costs for classroom coverage are typically budgeted; summer writing occurs in some instances and may include separate compensation. The district noted that prior adoptions have varied in cost: the district’s world-language adoption previously cost about $450,000, while some departments’ adoptions are less expensive.
Board members asked about committee membership, compensation and the timeline for vendor selection; administrators said they trust teacher committees to reach consensus on materials and noted that when grants are available they often include an allocation for substitute costs so teachers can participate without reducing classroom coverage.
No action taken The board received the report as information; no curriculum adoption was approved at the May 5 meeting.