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Board Approves Consolidated Instructional-Materials List, District Says Subscriptions Will Be Reduced
Summary
The Rockingham County Board approved a consolidated list of instructional materials; staff said district subscriptions will be reduced (Newsela, Discovery Techbooks, Pear Deck, Screencastify) and some purchases from a prior large textbook buy account for year-to-year budget fluctuations.
The Rockingham County Board of Education approved Action Item 7.1 on instructional materials after a staff presentation explaining a consolidation of digital and district-level subscriptions.
Dr. Perkins told the board that the district has reduced the number of district-wide subscriptions and will limit some site-level purchases, giving examples of reduced licensing for Newsela, Discovery Techbooks, Pear Deck and Screencastify. He said Zoom licensing last year was listed at about $56,000 (contracted price) and that staff expect lower cost this year because district purchases will be more centralized and fewer subscriptions will be needed.
Board members asked how usage of each program is tracked. Perkins said the district can track usage for platforms such as iReady and Achieve3000 and that those metrics are available to schools. He noted that some high-school-specific products (for ACT/subject prep) remain school-level purchases. Perkins also explained that a large one-time textbook purchase earlier in the year caused last year’s instructional-materials budget to spike; current purchases reflect consolidation and an effort to maximize available funds before the September 30 deadline.
A motion to approve the instructional materials list passed during the meeting.
