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Board approves math, practical reading and AP Biology program materials after multi‑step review
Summary
Trustees approved new program materials for middle‑school and high‑school math, AP Biology and practical reading after multi‑week reviews using national rubrics; the district said the purchases are within budget though shipping and licensing costs were noted.
Albany County School District #1 trustees approved a package of program materials for middle‑ and high‑school mathematics, practical reading and AP Biology at the April board meeting after curriculum teams completed multi‑step reviews and scored materials using nationally recognized rubrics.
Why it matters: program materials include textbooks, teacher manuals, manipulatives and digital licenses—items that can require sizeable budget commitments and shape classroom instruction district‑wide. District staff said the recommended packages are within available budgets and were chosen for alignment with updated standards and local student needs.
The board voted to approve materials that include: enVision mathematics for Laramie Middle School and Rock River grades 6–8 and a set of high‑school math materials; AP Biology materials for Laramie High School (reviewed using the EQIP rubric); and practical reading materials (the district referenced STARI‑style interventions) for Laramie High School and Whiting High School, intended to serve students with significant literacy gaps. Curriculum staff said practical reading is targeted at students with a wide range of needs—many in the class have Individualized Education Programs and some have very limited decoding skills—and that a coherent program would centralize interventions and support graduation progress.
The district described its review process: teams reviewed full‑year materials rather than samples, used national vetting tools (for example, the I‑MET and EQIP rubrics for math and science), solicited stakeholder input and considered budget implications. The curriculum presenter said two independent teams arrived at the same mathematics recommendation.
Trustees asked operational questions. Trustee Marshall confirmed materials are within budget; staff said the purchases fit available allocations. Trustees also asked about shipping costs, which staff said can be high (examples cited in the meeting included shipments that appeared to range in the low thousands of dollars). Christina Hutchison, a high‑school teacher who described the practical reading classroom, told the board: “All of them have IEPs and they come from our PLS program. Some of them are on graduation track and all of them have very unique needs. Some of them have no phonemic awareness… I’m piecemealing that program together. I need something more strategic.”
The motion to adopt the materials passed with no recorded dissent. The board packet included completed rubric scores, vendor quotes and cost summaries; staff said they sought local vendor quotes where possible to reduce shipping costs.
