Board previews textbook adoptions and new state math screener; parents to be consulted

District curriculum — At the meeting the presenter identified as Sarah reviewed a package of upcoming curriculum and assessment work for the coming year, including secondary English adoptions, Spanish materials at the high school and options for EL supports.

Sarah said the district is building on earlier K–5 work and focusing on reading fluency: “Really digging into, like, why aren't our kids really fluent readers by middle school, that's kind of where I think some of our problem is,” she said. She described efforts to bring decoding and comprehension practices into daily routines and acknowledged the challenge of staff time and training.

On assessments, Sarah said the Indiana Department of Education has required districts to select a universal screener for math. She explained the district has been using NWEA and is looking at two state-approved options (described in the meeting as Number Sense or i-Ready) and that funding is available through a formative assessment grant. "They have given us two to pick from," she said, adding that buildings will confer and decide which screener to use for next year.

Parent involvement and committee makeup — The board discussed parent-member composition for textbook adoption committees. One board member raised a conflict concern, saying, “I often have the same concern that the parent members are also employees … I'm gonna vote no on the committee later just so — that's my reason.” Sarah responded that she had tried to recruit parents who are not employees and that many committee slots already are non-staff parents.

Next steps — Textbook samples were placed in the green room for board review; parent committee members will be contacted when books are available and adoption items will appear on future action agendas.