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North Marion SD 15 will adopt state-approved health materials but won’t buy new texts this cycle, staff says
Summary
District staff told the board the health curriculum adoption must meet Division 22 requirements and include public review; because few state-approved options exist and budgets are tight, the district plans to adopt from the state-approved list while not budgeting for new purchases this year.
District staff told the North Marion SD 15 board the health curriculum adoption is governed by state rules (Division 22) and requires public input before formal adoption. The superintendent said the district previously postponed the process to allow time for other spring work and is now resuming the adoption timeline.
Because the state’s approved list had very few options this cycle, and because of current budget constraints, staff recommended selecting from the state-approved list and making clear to families that the district does not plan to purchase new materials this year. “So what we’d like to do is go through the process so that we can say we’ve officially selected one but make it very clear to families that we are not gonna be purchasing these materials,” the superintendent said.
Staff described a family-review plan: set up materials for parent review at school events and provide online access through the parent portal so families can comment, meeting the public-input requirement without purchasing new copies. The middle school had already piloted options and will narrow three possibilities to one or two for review.
Board members asked about the frequency of state-approved list updates; staff answered the state review cycle is infrequent (described in discussion as a seven-year cadence), and noted that independent adoptions would require the district to certify it had followed standards comparable to the state approval process.
No purchase or formal adoption vote was held; staff said the board would be presented a selection for approval after family review and with the understanding that no district funds are currently assigned for new text purchases.
