Board approves reading licenses and five-year Toshiba copier contract after discussion on Title I spending

The Lexington City Schools Board of Education approved requests to expand digital reading licenses and district instructional subscriptions and voted to enter a five-year copier contract with Toshiba after members pressed staff for cost and impact details.

Board members voted to authorize three instructional items — expansions or renewals for American Reading Company (ARC), Beable and Renaissance — and separately approved a five-year contract with Toshiba for district copiers. The instructional items were described in board documents as purchases and license renewals for the 2025–26 school year; staff said some funds come from Title I allocations with carryover limits.

The purchase most discussed was described by staff as $35,200 for additional digital licenses tied to the American Reading Company platform. Lee Jones, a district staff member presenting the items, told the board the purchase is timed to ensure materials and professional development are in place for the Aug. 7 start of the 2025–26 school year. "We were a little bit behind this request for instructional materials," Jones said, explaining the district wanted subscriptions in hand before summer training.

Board member Miss McDuffie pressed staff for more transparency about the scale and effectiveness of multiple reading-related programs, saying the district had recently approved large sums and the board needed clearer outcome data. "It's a lot of money, hun," Miss McDuffie said when referencing prior ARC-related spending, noting a previous ARC-related purchase in the meeting record of about $67,000.

Superintendent Dr. Hardy and other staff replied that the ARC expansion followed an incubation at Charles England Elementary School and that early local assessments showed reading gains. Dr. Hardy said the incubation showed a Lexile increase for participating students and that staff had seen improvements on the district assessment (IRLA) for students participating in the 100-book challenge. "We have seen students on their reading assessments … 23 percent of those students have actually shown an increase in their ability to read," Dr. Hardy said, adding the expansion was recommended by Principal Gaylord and classroom teachers.

Staff also told the board that Title I carryover rules and deadlines influenced the timing of purchases: unused Title I allocations risk being lost if not obligated by end-of-year deadlines. The board asked staff to provide clearer, itemized cost and outcome data going forward so members could evaluate whether to scale particular interventions across more schools.

On the copier contract, staff said the district issued an RFP, received multiple vendor responses, narrowed to three finalists and recommended Toshiba based on cost and service references. The board approved entering a five-year agreement to replace expiring equipment before the next school year.

Votes at a glance - Instructional resources (ARC, Beable, Renaissance): Motion to approve instructional recommendations carried (mover/second: not specified in public record). Outcome: approved. - District copier contract (Toshiba, five-year term): Motion carried (mover/second: not specified in public record). Outcome: approved.

Both approvals appeared in open session; the board took those actions before adjourning into closed session later in the meeting.

Ending: Board members said staff will return with additional, more detailed cost breakdowns and outcome data in future board materials so members can track whether district investments produce measurable reading gains.