Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Curriculum Ela topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
District opts for ELA ‘gap year,’ shares strong baseline in first progress monitoring window
Summary
Sarasota officials said the district will take a one‑year pause on purchasing new ELA core materials, citing recently purchased supplemental resources and teacher training; initial FAST progress‑monitoring (PM1) data show the district starting this year at or ahead of last year’s cohort baseline.
Sarasota County Schools staff told the School Board on Oct. 7 that the district will enter a state‑allowed adoption “gap year” for English‑language arts materials, delaying purchase of new core curriculum until the end of the next school year so implementation would begin in 2027–28.
Rachel O’Day, supervisor of instructional materials, and Executive Director Joe Binswanger outlined the ELA timeline and a district decision to pause purchases while continuing training and use of supplemental materials acquired over the past two years. O’Day said the district has already purchased many supplemental resources — decodables, intervention materials and differentiated resources for ESE and ELL students — to align with the science‑of‑reading standards and reduce disruption for teachers and students.
Binswanger described the formal adoption timeline: committee evaluation in October, school‑level teacher voting in November and December, a 20‑day public posting in late December, an objections window in January, and a formal board vote in February. The gap‑year move will allow the district more time for professional development and alignment prior to full implementation.
The board also received the district’s FAST PM1 (progress monitoring) results. Assistant superintendent and curriculum chiefs said PM1 is a baseline check and that, broadly, results show the district is either “even or a little ahead” of the prior year in most grades and subgroups. Staff said the system’s focus framework, targeted impact reviews and new dashboards are in place to monitor student growth and to target the bottom quartile with high‑dosage interventions.
Board members asked how charters are included; staff said charter schools were included in the accountability dataset but that the district separately offers support and outreach to charter leaders; some charters have engaged with district professional development and dashboards. No action items or votes were taken at the workshop; staff said the formal ELA adoption steps will follow the schedule presented.
