San Juan Unified presents $10.6 million instructional-materials adoption; board to vote April 28

San Juan Unified trustees heard a detailed presentation on recommended instructional materials for the 2026–27 school year that staff says will cost approximately $10,600,000, including professional learning and multiyear licenses, and will be brought back to the board for action on April 28.

Nicole Cucrow, director of professional learning and curriculum innovation, presented the adoption process and the staff recommendations, saying the packages were the product of pilots, committee review and community feedback. "As we share the instructional materials recommendations with you this evening, we would like to first set the stage with where this sits within our strategic plan," Cucrow said. She told trustees the process included prescreening, pilots, teacher feedback and consensus recommendations.

The curriculum and standards committee, represented at the meeting by Vice Chair Patsy McGavock, unanimously recommended the materials. "The committee unanimously recommends adoption of all proposed materials," McGavock said.

Key recommendations identified by staff include a recommended world history curriculum (Modern World History, HMH), U.S. History Interactive (Savas) for high school, the Thinking Math program (Innovamat) for TK–5 and Amplify/Desmos Math for grades 6–8, plus several smaller high-school language and social-science adoptions. Staff described supports including teacher onboarding, curriculum ambassadors, monthly site leadership meetings, and a multiyear math implementation and monitoring plan.

Staff characterized the total cost (materials plus professional learning) as about $10.6 million and said purchase models typically include multiyear licenses (staff said seven-year purchases are typical). Cucrow said most publishers provide initial launch training at no cost and that the district budget includes both locally restricted funds and state lottery dollars to cover the recommended purchases.

Board members pressed staff on metrics and implementation. Emmanuel Perez asked whether the "90%" measuring-impact figure referred to adoption across all teachers or adoption among those assigned the subject; staff replied the 90% figure is a goal for teachers who teach the subject. Trustees also asked how the district will track actual teacher usage; staff said the digital platforms and planned site surveys will help monitor adoption and that curriculum ambassadors and site visits will provide qualitative feedback.

Trustees also asked about professional learning costs and sustainability. Staff said the $635,000 figure in the materials packet covers professional learning for 2026–27 (the summer launch and multihour sessions) and that ongoing learning could be funded through LCAP and other budget sources after initial rollout.

Several trustees raised questions about screen time and digital reliance; staff said digital materials are intended as supportive tools rather than wholesale replacements and cited examples of limited, strategic use (for example, an estimated one hour per week in TK–5 math digital activities and optional digital components at middle school levels).

What happens next: the board scheduled action on the adoption package for its April 28 meeting. If the board votes to approve the package, staff said it will proceed with publisher purchases, multiyear licensing and the professional-learning rollout described at the meeting.