District moves forward with public review of TeachTown for specialized classrooms serving students with disabilities

District staff presented the Governing Board an administrative recommendation and public review for TeachTown, an alternative curriculum intended for the district’s specialized exceptional-student-services (ESS) classrooms.

Matt Casti, the district’s director of exceptional student services, described TeachTown as an adaptable, standards-aligned curriculum designed for students who cannot access the general-education curriculum without modification. He told the board the program includes digital and hands-on materials, teacher supports and professional development, and can be tailored to pre-reader and beginning-reader levels while keeping age-appropriate content for older students.

Key details administrators reported:

- Scope: The program is intended for specialized programs (autism/self-contained classrooms) and would directly serve about 400 of the district’s roughly 1,600 special-education students; other special-education tools would remain in use as appropriate.

- Cost model: The vendor uses an annual licensing model; staff reported the license is approximately $300 per student per year. Staff also compared existing tools (Newsela, STAR) and noted TeachTown focuses more directly on academic and functional skills for students with moderate to severe needs.

- Funding: Administration said available capital funds could cover initial purchase and they will explore discounts for multi-year purchases and possible federal fund uses; no final funding decision was made at the meeting.

- Public review: The district exceeded the statutory 60-day public review window for this adoption and staff said community members and board members may arrange supervised review of the online demo and physical materials through the ESS office.

Board reaction and next steps

Board members voiced support for a curriculum designed specifically for students with significant disabilities while asking about licensing costs, number of students served and how TeachTown would work alongside existing programs (STAR and Newsela were named as existing materials used for different purposes). Administration said TeachTown would complement — not replace — other specialized curricula and would provide additional lesson plans, materials and professional development for staff.

Staff said the item remains under consideration and will return to the board for a final adoption vote at a future meeting after administration finalizes funding and any procurement steps.