RISD central committee recommends HMH, Bluebonnet and Savvas as instructional materials; board hears vetting process

Kelsey Karcher, chair of Richardson ISD’s central instructional committee, presented the committee’s recommendations for this year’s instructional materials review and explained the state‑prescribed review process for materials approval.

"The approval process is quite prescribed by the state," Karcher said, describing layers of professional reviewers, public comment periods and content‑specific rubrics used to vet publishers. She told trustees the elementary reading committee’s top choice was HMH Into Reading for English and Ariba La Lectura for Spanish bilingual instruction, that Bluebonnet Learning was the recommended K–5 math option, and that Savvas was recommended for grades 6–8 and Algebra I. Karcher said committees emphasized alignment to Texas standards, high‑quality instructional design, and digital‑to‑print parity.

Trustees sought clarity about the recent state review that flagged errors in some vendors’ English language arts materials. Trustee Harris asked what the district would do if errors were later identified in materials used locally. Superintendent Branham responded that the district had confined this adoption to the math side for now and would not advance an RLA package that the state had found problematic: "Those errors and the concerns that have been presented to the State Board of Education have been on the RLA side. ... So tonight, we are only asking for the adoption on the math side, not the RLA side." The superintendent said the curriculum and instruction team will vet resources locally, communicate corrections to teachers and provide modified lessons where necessary.

Karcher outlined implementation steps: certification of the recommendations would allow budgeting and orders to proceed (the first day districts may order some state‑approved materials was cited by staff as May 1). She noted some elementary campuses already use Bluebonnet math and that the district is proposing a staggered rollout (reading first, math afterward) to reduce the implementation burden on teachers. The board did not vote on the materials at this meeting because the item was presented as information; staff said a certification or action item would appear on a future agenda once board direction is requested.

Next steps: staff will provide trustees with a campus list of where Bluebonnet is already in use, communicate any remaining questions about item scope, and bring a certification/action item if the board chooses to adopt the recommendations.