District staff recommend Wit & Wisdom, reading and handwriting materials for K–5 ELA; board to act in May

School district academic staff on April 28 recommended the adoption of the Wit & Wisdom K–5 English language arts program, paired with supplemental programs for early decoding and handwriting, and asked the school board to consider formal action at its next meeting.

Amy Barch, chief academic officer, told the board the district ran an extensive selection process and a large pilot that included 60 teachers and a steering committee; she said Wit & Wisdom was the only vendor to receive unanimous steering-committee support for piloting. The pilot and vendor-aligned professional development are intended to support a K–8 continuity of curriculum that district leaders say will connect elementary instruction to the middle-school resource the district already adopted.

Barch described the purchase as two parts: an initial heavier first-year cost…