Board adopts new social-studies and CTE instructional materials; approves AP Psychology with companion guide after debate

The St. Tammany Parish School Board on March 13 voted to adopt new high-school social-studies instructional materials and to approve a career and technical education (CTE) textbook package, and it attached a condition to the AP Psychology adoption requiring a companion guide to address community concerns about sensitive content.

Board action and key votes

- Social-studies adoption: The board approved recommendations from the curriculum committee to adopt new high-school social-studies materials, including vendor selections for AP and on-level courses. The motion to accept the committee's recommendations was made by Ms. Hanson and seconded by Mr. Green. The vote recorded in the minutes was 8 yeas, 4 nays and 1 abstention. A friendly amendment requiring a companion guide for AP Psychology was added before the vote; the guide will be developed by district staff with stakeholder input.

- Career and technical education (CTE) adoption: The board voted to adopt new CTE materials as recommended by the curriculum committee. The motion was made by Ms. Fontenelroy and seconded by Ms. Baker. The vote was 7 yeas and 6 nays.

Why it matters

The adoptions replace older texts and add digital and print resources intended to align instruction with current standards and to support teachers. Board discussion and public comment focused heavily on two issues: the content of AP Psychology texts and the cost and delivery model for textbooks and digital licenses.

Content and community concerns

Board member and public comments singled out Unit 3 in the AP Psychology materials, which includes sections on gender and ****** orientation. A board member moved to remove AP Psychology from the recommendations, arguing the unit contains material she considered inappropriate for high-school instruction; that motion did not proceed. Instead, the board approved a requirement that the district produce a companion guide for AP Psychology and, as staff proposed, the district will invite teachers, parents and community members to review the text and help develop guidance for classroom use.

District staff described options for handling sensitive content: companion guides for instructors, clarifying language in course catalogs and syllabi to alert parents and students, and public viewing of adopted materials before classes begin. The curriculum office said AP courses must submit a syllabus to the College Board for AP credit; significant deviations from an AP textbook can jeopardize AP course audit approval and students' ability to earn college credit.

Costs, scope and timing

The curriculum presentation included cost estimates and budget context: - High-school social-studies: estimated printed option $1,070,707.78; digital-only option $823,717.41; recurring workbook costs $67,752; estimated professional development $54,500. District projected a K—12 social-studies adoption budget of $2,000,200 and said it had already spent $347,927.99 from the textbook budget and used $269,668.62 in ESSER funds. - CTE adoption: estimated printed option $1,431,675.78; digital-only option $935,963.28; recurring workbook costs $148,032.66; estimated professional development $53,000. District staff said the CTE adoption was within the $1.6 million budget allocated for CTE materials.

Public comment and board concerns

Teachers and parents urged the board not to remove AP Psychology, noting the course's college-credit value and its role in pathways to health and social-science careers. Others called for clearer parental notification and said teachers needed time to plan with new materials.

Board members raised operational questions about digital licenses, classroom sets and how block scheduling (the district's planned move to block schedules) affects the number of concurrent digital licenses needed. Trustees asked staff to check license models with vendors and to provide more granular vote data showing how individual schools or departments evaluated vendor submissions.

What the board directed next

The board approved both adoptions with the following directions to staff: - Develop a companion guide for AP Psychology and circulate it for stakeholder review before the school year; include a simple notice in course catalogs/syllabi alerting parents to potentially sensitive content. - Work with schools to finalize textbook counts and license models in light of block scheduling to avoid unnecessary purchases and to ensure students without devices retain access to required materials. - Provide the board with school-level voting tallies and with details on whether selected texts are new editions of current materials or substantially different works.

The adoptions will allow implementation ahead of the 2025-26 school year, with district training and materials distribution to follow the board's procurement and scheduling timeline.