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Board adopts CommonLit 360, approves policy readings and accepts grants; audit praised
Summary
The Riverside School District board approved CommonLit 360 for middle‑school ELA, passed second and final readings of two policies, and heard finance and audit updates including a $67,355 Healthy Schools Healthy Kids grant and a no‑findings audit.
The Riverside School District Board of Directors approved the adoption of CommonLit 360 as the district's middle‑school English language arts curriculum and approved several business items and policy readings at the meeting.
Superintendent Ken described the multi‑year adoption process for instructional materials: classroom pilots, teacher and student feedback, curriculum maps and a hexagon change‑management analysis to assess training and budget needs. He said the instructional materials committee recommended CommonLit 360 and staff negotiated the purchase to bring costs within the district curriculum budget. Board members were told updates to online modules are included in the package and that the district will pay annual online licensing fees per audit rules.
The board also approved the second and final reading of policy 6220 (bid or request‑for‑proposal requirements) and policy 3425 (accommodating students with adrenal insufficiency); both motions passed by voice vote.
In finance and operations, Lisa reported that the district received a Healthy Schools Healthy Kids grant for $67,355 to buy cafeteria tables and pads. She also noted the district applied for an FFA van grant through the Washington FFA Foundation for about $40,000 in additional support; staff said the total of grant applications this year was described inconsistently in the transcript and is not specified precisely in the minutes. Lisa corrected an earlier figure for bus depreciation, saying the district expects about $58,000 of impact next year rather than the $53,000 figure she had initially given. She also celebrated the district passing its audit with no findings and distributed cookies to acknowledge staff work: "I bought cookies with zero taxpayer dollars," she said.
The board received an announcement that Riverside was recognized in a statewide award for educational excellence (top 25 of ~295 districts) based on multiple measures including kindergarten readiness, state assessment growth and graduation/on‑track indicators. Board members said the recognition reflects coordinated work across staff and the community.
All business motions recorded in the public transcript were carried by voice vote; no roll‑call tallies were recorded in the audio transcript provided.
Next steps: staff will finalize implementation details for the curriculum adoption and continue grant work; the district will reapply for the Community Eligibility Provision for school meals this June if needed.
