Stevens Point board approves CKLA by Amplify as K–6 ELA curriculum

The Stevens Point Area Public School District Board of Education voted to approve the purchase of Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) by Amplify, third edition, as the districtwide K–6 English language arts (ELA) resource.

Elementary Curriculum and Instruction Coordinator Darla Panoski told the board the vetting team of 21 district educators reviewed multiple programs, completed classroom site visits to Wausau and New Berlin school districts and used an agreed rubric before recommending CKLA by Amplify. She said the third-edition quote for a six-year contract, including teacher and student materials, is $1,270,000.

The adoption matters because it replaces more than two decades of mixed ELA materials with a single, districtwide program and triggers district spending and reimbursement questions. Panoski said the district confirmed with the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) that third-edition materials were not completed in time to appear on the DPI—s eligible list for 2025–26: “the third edition CKLA materials were not completed in time to be on the eligibility list for 2526. They just weren't completed,” she said.

Board members discussed price differences, expected DPI reimbursement and how the program will be implemented. Panoski said the second edition (eligible for DPI—s 50% K–3 reimbursement under Act 20 rules) would cost about $1,630,000 in total; if the district submitted for the 50% reimbursement on K–3 materials and received the full amount, the net district cost would be roughly $1,140,000. She said district referendum funds (the board has set aside $5,250,000 in year-two referendum dollars) would be used to cover the purchase and that $150,000 is available in the current educational services budget for teacher materials ordered immediately.

On implementation, Panoski described multi-year professional development and coaching included in the contract: whole-group PD by grade bands, on-site coaching visits, and leadership training for principals to create classroom "look-fors" and support fidelity. In response to board questions about handwriting instruction, Panoski said cursive is introduced at the end of grade 2 and that grades 3–5 include a separate activity book; she characterized the district package as "quite in-depth." Board members also asked how the sixth-grade component would align with junior-high curriculum; staff said secondary curriculum coordinators will work on transition alignment if the purchase is approved.

After discussion the board member Alex LePak moved to approve the recommendation to purchase CKLA by Amplify (third edition) as presented; the motion was seconded and approved by voice vote (no roll-call tally recorded in the public transcript). The board chair announced the motion passed.

District staff emphasized the adoption decision followed six months of review by classroom teachers, principals and curriculum specialists. The vetting team—s site visits flagged strengths and weaknesses of alternatives: Wit and Wisdom (with Geodes) and Really Great Reading were top contenders, but the panel favored CKLA/Amplify for alignment with district goals. Staff noted the financial trade-off: the district could buy the second edition (eligible for partial DPI reimbursement) or the third, lower-print-cost edition that was not yet on the DPI list; the net difference to the district after hypothetical reimbursement was presented as roughly $130,000 over six years.

Next steps described at the meeting include placing orders for teacher materials (funded from the current budget), scheduling the vendor-provided professional development and continuing communication with families and principals about classroom implementation and transition plans to secondary ELA.