Greendale board to vote June 16 on new K–12 social studies materials and a required civics semester

Greendale — Greendale School District staff recommended on June 2 that the board adopt a new K–12 social studies curriculum package and add a required semester of high‑school civics, with a final vote scheduled for the board’s June 16 meeting.

District teachers and curriculum leaders presented two years of pilot work and a recommendation to adopt the Teachers Curriculum Institute (TCI) materials for elementary and middle grades and several high‑school courses, together with the DBQ (document‑based question) Project for grades 6 through 12 to strengthen source‑based writing and inquiry. "DBQ stands for document based question," said Megan Faraday, a high‑school social studies teacher and department head, describing how the practice trains students to use primary and secondary sources as evidence.

The presentation outlined a revised course sequence that would place U.S. history in grade 10 and pair a semester of economics with a semester of civics in grade 11; students who take AP Government would be able to satisfy the civics requirement. Staff said the plan is intended to apply to incoming freshmen (identified in the discussion as the class of 2029) so current high‑school students’ graduation requirements are not changed.

The adoption would be a six‑year contract. "Our team is recommending an adoption total for TCI and the DBQ Project of $279,260.41," said the district presenter, describing costs as covering class sets, student reproducibles, online access and digital licenses. Presenters said some costs can be covered by this year’s budget lines because the district already uses DBQ and can reuse certain materials.

Board members asked about academic overlaps, translation support and student citation practice. Staff said the DBQ online platform includes scaffolds and supports for English learners and special‑education students, and that DBQ conventions typically reference documents by letter and author in timed in‑class writing. On AP overlap, staff compared the arrangement to other AP/regular elective relationships: "If you take AP government, you would not also take the one‑semester elective because AP covers the semester material and more," a presenter said.

The district will post materials for two weeks of public review, with copies available in the high‑school library during open hours, and will return the curriculum resources to the board for an action vote on June 16.

The board did not vote on the recommendation at the June 2 meeting; the item was presented for information and public review.