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Board renews Beyond Textbooks IGA after debate over consent-level renewals
Summary
The Saddle Mountain board approved the annual Beyond Textbooks renewal as a consent item June 10 but several members objected to renewals being signed before full board review and requested a future work session to examine the digital curriculum option.
The Saddle Mountain Unified School District governing board voted June 10 to renew its annual IGA with Beyond Textbooks, the district’s digital curriculum platform, after a prolonged discussion about whether renewals should remain on the consent agenda.
Several board members said they were uncomfortable that the vendor renewal had been signed before the board had the opportunity for a substantive discussion. "We should have had an opportunity to relook at this because we just signed another contract with them before the board even voted on it," one member said.
District administrators explained the practice: renewals are typically processed through administrative signatures and placed on the consent agenda because they are recurring annual agreements rather than a multi-year textbook adoption that would require a full adoption cycle. The superintendent and staff noted the attorney and procurement steps occur before items reach the board and that a signed renewal can still be rejected by the board.
Board members asked for a future work session to review Beyond Textbooks in greater depth, including how the platform compares to subscription-based or traditional textbook models and what the costs would be to shift to alternative systems. Staff said a detailed review could be scheduled early in the calendar year to allow time for vendor presentations and comparison research.
The motion to approve the Beyond Textbooks renewal carried on a voice vote.
