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District staff recommend new K–12 social studies and 9–12 ELA adoptions; five‑year costs presented
Summary
Curriculum staff recommended Studies Weekly for K–5 social studies and HMH Into Literature for 9–12 English Language Arts, with supplemental digital resources; five‑year cost estimates were presented to the board.
Curriculum coordinators recommended new instructional materials to align with Georgia standards and to replace an outgoing high‑school ELA program. The recommended K–5 social studies core is Studies Weekly (five‑year cost $1,281,783.90) with the DBQ Project as a supplemental writing resource (five‑year cost $234,000). The combined elementary social‑studies recommendation totaled $1,515,783.90 for five years.
For middle and high school social studies, staff recommended Gallipade for middle grades and Savvas, Cengage, Bedford, Freeman & Worth, Perfection Learning, Newsela and Discovery Education for various high‑school core and elective courses. Staff estimated a five‑year secondary cost of $9,201,177.02 including supplemental DBQ resources.
For 9–12 English language arts, staff recommended HMH Into Literature as the core (a blended consumable/digital program) and Newsela ELA as the ancillary supplement. The five‑year cost cited was $7,914,680.80 for HMH Into Literature and $683,700 for Newsela ELA; both vendors include professional learning supports. Staff said the district intends to embed the resources into daily lesson plans and monitor fidelity through usage reports and classroom observation.
Presenters said the elementary consumable model provides student copies and included digital access; the DBQ project is fully digital. Board members asked whether the purchases were included in the proposed FY26 budget; staff said the funding is included in capital or textbook allocations for FY26 (referred to in the capital projects/spots line) and that the final purchase would follow formal board action at a later meeting.
Board members raised questions about disposition of retired materials (surplus, donation or sale) and were told disposal must follow board policy and federal/state funding rules when federal funds were used. Staff offered to provide details on the foundation/vendor selection process and distribution of direct foundation gifts to schools.
