Humble ISD adopts Bluebonnet math for K-5 after district pilot and debate

The Humble Independent School District board of trustees voted 6-0 to adopt Bluebonnet Learning math for grades K-5 and to approve supplemental secondary materials after presentations from district staff, pilot-campus teachers and more than an hour of public comment.

District staff presented the adoption as a stakeholder-driven process that used the 2024 Instructional Materials and Adoption (IMRA) review criteria and public showcases. Catherine Eubanks, a district staff member who led the adoption review, said the process included campus-nominated selection committees, rubrics calibrated to district priorities and public input sessions held March 4–April 4.

The board heard classroom-level testimony from four educators who piloted Bluebonnet this spring. Robbie Moreau, math instructional coach at Foster Elementary, described a lesson flow of “fluency, application, concept development, practice, debrief and an exit ticket” and said teachers used the curriculum’s routines while adapting delivery to their classrooms. Brooke Smart, math instructional coach at Oak Forest Elementary, said Bluebonnet “takes the guesswork out of vertical alignment” and highlighted a “read, write, draw” strategy for problem solving. Fourth-grade teachers Kristen Amador and Audie Huberty at Maple Brook Elementary said embedded questions and targeted exit tickets make it easier to monitor student understanding and plan small-group instruction.

During public comment earlier in the meeting, several speakers urged the board not to adopt Bluebonnet, citing concerns about accuracy, volume of materials, accessibility for families and whether the publisher had been independently vetted. Melissa Perry, a district and college math instructor who identified herself as a teacher in the district, said she spent hours reviewing the first-grade materials and cited examples she described as incorrect and confusing. Larissa Powell, a parent and frequent speaker at board meetings, told trustees the district was “adopting the Bluebonnet math program, a curriculum that seems to be overwhelmingly unpopular with teachers and parents.”

Superintendent Dr. Roger Brown and curriculum staff responded that the review focused on math materials (news coverage cited elsewhere addressed reading and language arts). Eubanks and other staff said the Bluebonnet math recommendation emerged from committee votes, pilot feedback and alignment to the district’s objective to raise STAAR math scores. Staff also said they reviewed materials for religious references and reported finding none.

Board members asked how the district would measure the adoption’s impact. Curriculum staff said implementation fidelity would be tracked through walk-throughs, surveys and rubric scores; student impact would be monitored with Bluebonnet unit assessments, district benchmark assessments and NWEA MAP growth measures already in place for grades 2–5 and planned for expansion to K–5. Trustees said they expect quarterly progress reports tied to the district improvement plan.

The board also approved two one-year secondary supplemental packages: STEMScopes math for grades 6–8 and Algebra I, and Agile Mind for Algebra II and Geometry. The secondary Bluebonnet adoption for grades 6–7 was recommended only as a one-year pilot to allow more vertical-alignment data before any longer-term purchase.

The adoption vote followed the adoption presentation and public comment; the motion to approve Bluebonnet math and the related items was made by Trustee Robert Scarfo, seconded by Trustee Martina Lamond Dixon, and passed 6-0.

Trustees said they will continue to monitor implementation and student outcomes before making longer-term purchases for secondary grades.

The board did not take any additional policy action on curriculum adoption at the meeting beyond the approvals and implementation plan described by staff.