Instruction committee approves $1.2 million in curriculum and professional‑learning cuts for referral to full board

The Instruction & Support Services Committee on Monday approved and referred to the full Board of Education a package of curriculum and professional‑learning reductions that district staff said will produce roughly $1.2 million in savings.

The measures are intended to reduce the district’s reliance on multiple outside licenses and trainings while steering teachers to state‑provided or district‑adapted resources. “These recommendations are projected to reach a significant cost savings of approximately $1,200,000,” said Marj Hughes, executive director of school training.

Nut graf: Committee members and staff presented a list of licenses, pilots and professional‑learning contracts the administration proposes to pause, discontinue or replace. Supporters said the changes preserve core remediation tools and aim to avoid cuts to programs with high usage while redirecting limited grant dollars to priorities with stronger evidence of classroom impact.

The largest single proposed change is discontinuing continued purchase of the IXL social‑studies site license, which staff said would have cost roughly $592,000 for next‑year licensing and training. Hughes explained the district lacks a complete curriculum tied to the IXL pilot and recommended adopting the Connecticut State Department of Education’s K–8 model curriculum (referred to in the discussion as OpenCT) and using district funds to pay teachers to adapt it locally.

Staff also described savings from Discovery Education (about $400,000 this year) because the district prepaid the license and accompanying professional learning in prior years; a lower‑cost agreement for Khan Academy that reduced the quote by roughly $161,000; a $53,000 reduction by converting a vendor training to a train‑the‑trainer model; and removal of an $8,000 social‑emotional learning license (Move This World). MobyMax was noted as prepaid and not being renewed after an expiration in 2027 (staff characterized that as a future savings rather than a recoverable refund).

Committee members asked for details and documentation while discussing timing of transitions so classroom teachers are not left without materials midyear. “If something was in a purchase order that was about to be issued, we made it a change based on our collective discussions,” Hughes said, describing how staff calculated the savings. Committee members repeatedly requested that the detailed list be added to the meeting packet for the full board.

Ending: The committee’s referral sends the proposed eliminations and contract changes to the full board. Staff said many of the adjustments are funded through existing Alliance/Title I grant allocations and that some changes (for example, adopting state model curricula) will require teacher time to adapt resources during the summer. The full board will review and vote on the package at a later meeting.