Salisbury Township board approves curricula despite objections over incomplete seventh-grade Learning Lab

The Salisbury Township School District board on Aug. 13 approved a package of curricular materials, including the UFLI phonics program, a K–12 science curriculum and the district's new seventh-grade Learning Lab — a decision that followed robust debate over whether the Learning Lab document is complete.

Trustees voted first to approve items 2.1–2.5 as a block and then held a separate roll-call on item 2.6, which covered approved curricula including Learning Lab. The roll call produced seven yes votes and two no votes; the measure passed.

Why it mattered: several trustees said the Learning Lab curriculum still lacks explicit references to academic standards and remains in an iterative state after roughly 18 months of development. Mrs. McKelvey said she could not vote yes because, in her view, “we are continuing to teach subjects where we have not … finalized a curriculum,” and that starting a class without a finished curriculum does a disservice to students.

Kelly, who presented the curricular materials and answered trustees' questions, described the Learning Lab as intentionally flexible and iterative, explaining that units — rather than a fixed yearlong plan — would be revised to respond to student needs and vertical alignment across grade levels. “Learning Lab is looking at drawing from the experiences kids are having in all of their classes,” Kelly said, adding that the administration planned to return a revised document in September.

Administration defended the decision to bring the Learning Lab forward for board approval now so teachers would have an approved framework before students arrive. A trustee asked whether the board may legally start instruction when a document does not yet list specific standards; Kelly acknowledged that some boxes remain to be filled in the curriculum document and committed to additional revisions and a follow-up presentation.

Board action and next steps: the board chair amended the motion to separate items 2.1–2.5 from 2.6, approved 2.1–2.5 by voice vote, and conducted a roll-call on 2.6 that passed 7–2. The administration committed to finishing the Learning Lab revisions and issuing the updated curriculum to trustees before the September meeting.

The vote record on 2.6 as spoken in the roll call: Mr. Gaither — yes; Mrs. Glenister — yes; Mr. Hoffman — yes; Mrs. Klinger — yes; Mrs. McKelvey — no; Mrs. Nemitz — yes; Mr. Riccobani — yes; Mr. Spinner — no; Mr. Gano — yes.

The board will revisit the Learning Lab in September to consider the final revisions. No additional formal actions about the Learning Lab were adopted at the Aug. 13 meeting.