Greeley-Evans District 6 adopts new high-school English curriculum, approves 7‑year, $1.08M purchase funded by mill levy override

The Board of Education of Greeley-Evans School District 6 voted 7-0 April 28 to adopt a new grades 9–12 English language arts curriculum, approving a seven-year purchase of HMH Into Literature and the Writable writing platform at a total cost of $1,082,354.47 funded from the district's mill levy override.

The decision follows a months‑long review by district teachers and specialists led by Lisa McGee, the district's K–12 English language arts and AVID coordinator, who told the board the adoption responds to the end of the district's prior Springboard contract and aims to provide rigorous, standards-aligned materials and stronger digital writing supports.

The curriculum selection committee rated Into Literature highest on a set of district “must haves” that included student consumables, a strong digital platform, built-in differentiation for multilingual and special education students, diverse texts and authors, and reporting tools that integrate with existing assessments. "One of the core components of the digital platform our committee was specifically excited about was Writable and its potential to give students timely, meaningful feedback they can immediately implement in their writing," McGee said during the presentation.

Assistant Superintendent Anthony Osmos told the board that Springboard had reached the end of its contract life and that a vendor change left the district without a renewal option. He said the district considered delaying a purchase because of budget pressures but could not extend access to the current platform, making a new adoption necessary. "Seven years is a typical cycle for curriculum adoption," Osmos said.

Student representatives who spoke during the public presentation noted the instructional value of integrated AI-like feedback within Writable. Timothy Longacre, student council president at Northridge High School, said the platform offers "more personal writing commentary" and helps students learn revision practices rather than rely on single‑button fixes. Sarah Venegas, a council member from Early College Academy, said the tool provides "positive instant feedback" that can catch smaller clarity and organization issues students might miss.

Board members asked about committee agreement and safeguards around AI. Director Matthews asked whether the committee deliberations were unanimous; Osmos said the committee started with three high-quality options and converged on Into Literature against the district criteria. Director Sullivan asked whether AI assistance would be available during assessments; McGee said the feedback tools are intended for instruction and revision and are disabled during formal assessments.

The approved package covers teacher materials, consumable student workbooks for seven years, seven-year digital licenses for teachers and students, and a one-to-one purchase of core novels for high-school classrooms. The board record lists the total cost as $1,082,354.47 and specifies the mill levy override as the funding source.

The board approved the motion to adopt the curriculum unanimously. The district staff said implementation planning and professional development will follow and that the adoption is intended to support writing growth and college- and career-readiness across grades 9–12.