Public commenter urges board to review district’s English language arts adoption

A public commenter told the Mapleton SD 32 School Board on Feb. 19 that the district should re-examine how it adopted EL Education as the English language arts curriculum, saying the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) listing shows the program “does not meet” standards for kindergarten through second grade even as it meets standards for grades 3–5.

“The process for selecting and adopting instructional materials shall include opportunities for citizens and parent involvement,” the public commenter said during the meeting, asking the board to “evaluate EL education and how it became our current adopted curriculum.” The commenter presented printed ODE listings and samples of EL Education and compared them with earlier curricula, including Wonders.

District staff (speaker 5) responded that EL Education has been in place for two years and that the component flagged by ODE relates to a specific part of the foundation/skills block (phonemic awareness), not the program as a whole. Staff said the district used an updated EL Education revision issued last summer and planned to follow up with teachers and share the exact materials and links used during the adoption process.

Board members agreed to keep the matter on the agenda for follow-up and requested staff bring back the referenced ODE documentation and a brief explanation of the adoption steps the district followed. No formal action was taken at the meeting; staff committed to circulate the materials and to place the item on a future agenda for more detailed review.