Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Curriculum Grant topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Cedar Hill ISD staff to apply for TEA LIFT grant; trustees briefed on Bluebonnet curriculum tradeoffs
Summary
Administration told trustees it will apply for TEA's LIFT grant (formerly Strong Foundations), which offers multiyear funding if the district adopts TEA-approved 'Bluebonnet' materials; trustees asked about religious texts and local funding implications.
District staff told the board it plans to apply for the Texas Education Agency's LIFT grant, an opportunity that provides technical assistance and multiyear funding for districts that adopt TEA-approved instructional materials.
The administration said the LIFT grant funding is structured so that if an LEA selects Bluebonnet (the TEA version of Carnegie/Amplify) as its curriculum, it can receive up to three years of funds; if the district selects another approved HQIM (highly qualified instructional material), the grant may only cover a single year. "So year 1 funding is awarded through a competitive grant… But if we get the grant year 1, year 2 and 3 is continuous," a district presenter said as part of the overview.
Trustees pressed for clarification about religious or culturally sensitive texts in the Bluebonnet resources. When asked whether Bluebonnet contains religious texts, the district presenter replied: "Short answer, yes. If we were to adopt Bluebonnet, we would look at all of the texts… and decide if they will go in our scope and sequence and it's something we would utilize, or if it's something that we would supplement and bring something else alongside." The administration emphasized that local curriculum teams would choose which texts to include in local scope and sequence.
Board members also asked how the grant aligns with district academic priorities and whether the district would be required to accept a specific curriculum if the grant is awarded. Administrators said the application stage is informational to the board per TEA requirements and that, if awarded, the district would return with detailed adoption timelines, cost comparisons and measurable outcomes written with a TEA-approved provider.
What happens next: The administration said it will prepare a detailed adoption timeline and cost comparison for board review, including vendor demonstrations and examples from districts that have implemented approved materials.
