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Board gives consensus to pilot CKLA elementary ELA curriculum; initial implementation cost estimated above $900,000
Summary
Wicomico County staff presented a request to pilot Amplify/CKLA for K–5, citing other Maryland districts' growth and the program’s integrated approach. The board asked questions about costs, alignment with existing phonics programs, cursive instruction timing and reporting; the board gave consensus to proceed with a pilot.
At the work session staff asked the board for consensus to pilot a new elementary English language arts curriculum, Amplify CKLA (Core Knowledge Language Arts). The presenter said the ELA team had solicited interest from vendors and recommended a pilot after several months of teacher visits, surveys and meetings with intervention and instructional coaches.
Kelly Kaiser, the district’s newly appointed ELA supervisor, described concerns raised in teacher and parent conversations (gaps in writing and grammar instruction, a desire for more consistent curricular sequencing) and said the recommended CKLA program includes an integrated phonics and knowledge component with a pre‑K through grade‑5 sequence. As she explained, CKLA “is integrated. You could not untie the phonics from the knowledge” in the curriculum and the program includes a stronger emphasis on process writing and authentic writing tasks.
Board members pressed budget and implementation details. Chair Malone asked about cost, observing that while the pilot has no license cost many implementation expenses remain: "the pilot costs $0, but if we implement this, it's over $900,000," and staff confirmed that full implementation—materials, decodables and teacher guides—would be a multi‑year expense that staff estimated would level out similar to current annual phonics program spending (staff noted the district currently pays about $250,000 per year for a phonics program plus decodables and trade books). Kaiser and other presenters said the pilot would include both a Title I and non‑Title I cohort across the grades and would allow mid‑pilot reviews to identify trends and adjust supports.
Several board members asked for classroom visits and mid‑pilot reporting; staff offered to provide direct links to Maryland Report Card data and to invite board members to observe pilot classrooms. After discussion the board reached consensus to move forward with a pilot and staff said they would return with details on participating schools, teacher assignments and mid‑pilot checkpoints.
No formal fiscal adoption occurred at the meeting; board members asked that staff provide updated cost estimates and a plan for evaluation before any recommended systemwide adoption.
