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Putnam County opens 20-day public review for HOPE and Spanish curricular picks before April hearing
Summary
The district’s instructional-materials committee recommended E Dynamics (HOPE/PE) as the primary HOPE pick with ETR/HealthSmart as alternate and Klet World Languages (Reporteros) as the primary for Spanish 1–2; the public review runs March 11–30, with a public hearing April 15 and a final board vote April 28.
The Putnam County School District on Monday kicked off a 20-day public review of recommended instructional materials for 2025–26, including HOPE (the PE/health variation) and Spanish 1–2, and set a public hearing for April 15 ahead of an April 28 board vote.
Jen Zula, who presented the adoption plan to the board, said the district followed the state rubric and an elimination-and-selection protocol that relied on school-based reviewers and a broader selection committee. "We started in January with a call for reviewers," she said, describing professional learning for reviewers, a publicly noticed elimination meeting on Feb. 23, and the public comment window that opened March 11.
Zula said the selection team chose E Dynamics as the primary recommendation for the HOPE course and ETR Associates’ HealthSmart as the alternate. For Spanish 1 and 2, the committee recommended Klet World Languages’ Reporteros as the primary selection with a Vista product as the alternate, emphasizing the committee’s preference to preserve continuity between Spanish one and two.
Committee feedback and projected costs were presented to the board: the E Dynamics HOPE digital course was shown as approximately $60 per student annually with an option for a five-year school-site license; the Klet World Languages Spanish package listed a life-of-adoption student digital cost around $147.80 (teacher-access provisions were described as part of bundled pricing options). Zula told the board the recommended products integrate with Canvas and the district’s single-sign-on tools.
Board members pressed staff on how public objections are handled. Zula said public feedback during the 20-day window is advisory and that a formal contest of an adoption requires an in-person form with specific evidence (for example, failure to meet standards) and triggers a special hearing before an appointed magistrate.
The board will consider the materials at a mandatory instructional-materials hearing at 9 a.m. on April 15 in the boardroom; the staff said the April 28 meeting will include the formal vote and a post-vote contest period should members of the public choose to file a challenge.
If contested, the district’s contest-process form and the state's criteria will govern whether the adoption proceeds. Zula said public access to student editions and a survey link would be posted on the district site for the review window.
