Trustees pull districtwide i-Ready purchase after governance concerns

Trustees raised procedural and substantive concerns about a proposed districtwide contract with Curriculum Associates for the i-Ready diagnostic and progress-monitoring platform, which had appeared on the consent agenda without the pilot data and comparative analysis trustees said they had requested.

Board members said they had previously discussed piloting more than one platform and expected to review pilot data before a districtwide decision. One trustee objected that approving a single vendor across the district after a governance meeting would short-circuit the agreed process and undermine public trust: “I just really didn't understand how we had gotten from our conversation two weeks ago in the room... to this,” the trustee said. Trustees and governance chairs asked for clearer documentation of decision criteria and suggested running multiple pilots.

Superintendent Crossley acknowledged the concerns, said staff heard the feedback, and offered to pull the item from the consent agenda for future consideration, taking responsibility for its placement on consent. He said the administration is not married to any vendor and will work with trustees to improve transparency and to present alternatives and data for a deliberative choice.

Board discussion also covered training timelines and potential additional costs for substitute coverage when staff attend i-Ready professional development; trustees asked staff to return with cost and pilot-design information before any districtwide adoption.