Committee forwards updated curriculum review timeline adding English and math 9–12 and proposing an English 11 course

Germantown, Aug. 5, 2025 — The Teaching and Learning Committee of the Germantown School District on Tuesday voted to forward an updated curriculum review timeline to the full school board that moves English and mathematics for grades 9–12 into the current cycle and proposes adding an 11th‑grade English course.

Jake Mizziak, the meeting’s presenter, told committee members that the district is making only “very small updates” to the timeline used in prior years but is pushing two departments forward because they were “out of alignment” with previously approved sequences. “This is the same process that I’ve used for the last three years,” Mizziak said. He described a four‑phase, flexible review structure and said updated unit‑by‑design (UBD) documents and scope‑and‑sequence material for English 11 will be provided to the committee.

Mizziak said the English department identified a gap at the 11th‑grade level after earlier K–8 reviews. He said adding a course at 11th grade — rather than leaving two electives at that level unchanged — would help ensure students encounter all priority reading and writing standards before selecting electives in 12th grade. “There’s a piece of what happens with the fact that we offer electives in eleventh grade and then twelfth grade,” Mizziak said, adding the review will examine redundancy and which electives might be removed from the course guidebook depending on the final shape of the 11th‑grade class.

Committee members asked whether the high‑school reviews would demand the same level of staff time and intensity as the prior K–8 review. An unidentified committee member asked, “Do we see the work around English 9–12 as being as intense as it was for the last go around?” Mizziak replied he did not anticipate the same level of intensity that the elementary K–8 review required but warned that “once you start digging in, you learn new things.”

Members also raised concerns that requiring an 11th‑grade course could reduce elective options or create situations where students feel “dead‑ended” into courses they do not want. Mizziak said electives could remain available in 12th grade and that the review would consider sequencing choices so students maintain options while meeting identified priority standards.

After discussion, Tracy Pollock moved and Jeff Boyer seconded a motion to give a positive recommendation to the full board to approve the updated curriculum review timeline. The committee took a voice vote; members said “aye,” no opposing votes were recorded, and the motion carried by voice vote.

The committee did not adopt specific course changes at Tuesday’s meeting; it voted only to send the updated review timeline and related materials to the full board for consideration. The committee adjourned at 05:45.