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Parent tells Pearland ISD board district's i-Ready spending and a data-privacy lawsuit raise concerns
Summary
A parent urged Pearland ISD to limit classroom technology, saying the district spent $163,584 on i-Ready this year and citing a December 2025 federal class-action filing alleging data-privacy violations; she said the PTA spent about $13,614.50 on decodable readers and materials.
Michelle Rubio, a parent with children in Pearland ISD kindergartener and second-grade classrooms, told the board during public comment that behavioral disruptions and heavy use of educational apps are harming learning time and urged the district to "get back to basics."
"It's taking away from their actual teaching time from an actual teacher, a human, a real qualified teacher," Rubio said. She told trustees the district spent $163,584 on i-Ready this past year and that a PTA purchase of decodable readers and Elkonin boxes for her campus totaled about $13,614.50. Rubio said a federal class-action complaint was filed in December 2025 alleging Curriculum Associates, the maker of i-Ready, violated student data privacy and that, in her view, peer-reviewed evidence of i-Ready's effectiveness is lacking.
Rubio said campus teachers lacked decodable readers and phonics materials during a curriculum switch and that PTA funds were used to purchase needed classroom materials. "Maybe we need to go back to basics and seeing if that could improve things overall," she said.
A trustee asked Rubio to follow up by email so staff could continue the conversation. The board did not respond to Rubio's claims about the lawsuit or the effectiveness of i-Ready during the public comment period. The district did not provide a statement at the meeting about the program or the claimed expenditures.
