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Board approves $1.18 million textbook package after debate over US history title
Summary
The board approved the district’s 2025–26 textbook purchases, including a contested U.S. history text, after public debate and a 6–3 vote on the package; one history title drew criticism for how it frames historical perspective.
The Council Rock School District board approved the district’s 2025–26 textbook purchases, totaling $1,184,595.81, after debate over a U.S. history textbook and narrower votes on specific contracts.
A motion to approve the textbook package was moved during the meeting and passed by roll call, 6–3, according to the transcript. The approved purchases include materials for math, science and language arts across middle and high school grades as well as pilot programs for elementary science.
Board debate focused on one title, American Civilization (Savvas), and whether it treats history “through a modern lens.” Board member Carol Groveland challenged the textbook’s approach, saying, “History must be studied in the context of its time,” and criticized the frame in which the publisher described history as “the chronicle of people, their decisions, emotions, and viewpoints.” Groveland said she believed the book sometimes evaluates historical figures through a modern lens and that certain contemporary events may require more archival distance before treatment in textbooks.
Supporters on the board, and the district administration, said the book had undergone departmental review, had been piloted, and includes primary-source materials to develop critical thinking. “I thought it was very well done,” said a board member who reviewed teacher materials and said the teachers’ version guided instruction on using primary sources.
Separately, the board voted 6–3 to approve a contract with HMH for literature materials for grades 6–8 subject to solicitor review and audit, after a motion earlier in the meeting. The transcript records both the motion and the subsequent roll call outcome.
The discussion included references to the district’s textbook review process: most proposed programs underwent a teacher committee review, pilot testing and a 30-day public review period. The administration said many science textbooks had not been updated for more than a decade and that selected materials align to new Pennsylvania science standards.
Board members asked that the district continue to make review materials available and to provide clear teacher guidance for sensitive or recent historical topics. The transcript shows the board’s final action to approve the package and the HMH contract, as recorded in the roll calls.
