Board to pilot Amplify science resource for K4 and fifth grade amid tight budget

Instructional staff recommended the district begin a phased elementary adoption of the Amplify science curriculum, starting with fifth grade and a K4 pilot, to fill a gap left by a long‑outdated elementary science resource. The pilot and initial rollout are projected to cost roughly $200,000 as a one‑time expense and would be part of a six‑year licensing and implementation commitment.

Curriculum leaders said they arrived at the phased approach to reduce implementation strain on teachers and to align curriculum development with resource rollout. "Fifth grade will not have the pressure so much of just benchmark advance ... a fifth grade departmentalized teacher can really focus on learning this amplify resource," one instructional leader said, explaining the rollout strategy.

Staff noted they trimmed other CIA (curriculum, instruction, assessment) budgets by about $1.18 million across the plan to prioritize this purchase and avoid consecutive large elementary purchases in back‑to‑back years. The district will expand mastery and screener tools (DIBBLES for foundational literacy and Mastery Connect benchmarks) and continue to fund professional learning out of the required 1% set‑aside for professional development (roughly $417,000).

Trustees asked questions about cost, shipping and multi‑year commitments; staff said shipping costs were negotiated down and the resource purchase was structured to avoid consecutive large elementary purchases in upcoming years.

The board did not take a final procurement vote during the work session; staff said they would return with contract language and a budgeted appropriation for approval.