The Richland 1 School Board of Commissioners on May 29 approved a $323,566.18 contract with Instructure to provide the Mastery Connect formative-assessment platform.

The administration recommended the award during the board’s finance agenda and said the purchase is exempt under the district procurement model code as copyrighted technology materials. The motion passed unanimously, 7‑0.

Mastery Connect will be used to house district common formative assessments, teacher-created CFAs and benchmarks, while i‑Ready will continue in the district for math where teachers previously selected that curriculum, officials said. Doctor Williams explained the systems’ roles: “We will use iReady for math … and we will continue to use Mastery Connect … that houses all of our progress monitoring, district CFAs, teacher created CFAs, etcetera.”

Commissioner Hersey asked whether the systems overlap. Doctor Williams said the district plans to use both tools in different ways and that instructional leaders meet monthly to monitor usage and which schools are engaging with the platforms.

The administration presented the purchase as a continuation of existing instructional technology and recommended board approval under the stated procurement exemption. The board voted to approve the contract and directed the administration to continue monitoring usage and reporting on implementation as part of routine instructional oversight.

The contract is scheduled to begin with the 2025–26 cycle; the district said services are being procured in accordance with the model procurement code and the administration recommended the award.