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It has been more than 10 years since the Roswell Independent School District has adopted a textbook program for teaching elementary English language arts and reading, and after a split vote by the board of education Tuesday night, it will have to wait a while longer.
The board voted 3-2 against adopting the program Core Knowledge Language Arts, or CKLA, from publisher Amplify as recommended by a 56-member committee that began reviewing programs in April.
Board President Hope Morales and Superintendent Brian Luck both said Thursday the board will revisit the adoption later in the year but were not certain when that would happen.
CKLA received the highest number of endorsements from committee members, followed by Into Reading, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. The committee reviewed five programs.
Morales and Mona Kirk voted in favor of adopting the program, while James Edwards, Hilda Sanchez and Milburn Dolan voted against.
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Throughout the half-hour discussion, Sanchez, Dolan and Edwards raised concerns about the timing of the adoption proposal with the New Mexico Public Education Department’s soon-to-be released list of adopted programs and whether or not teachers would be too rushed in their training to implement the program this fall.
Currently, RISD uses an instructional program called Reading Street that was implemented in fall 2011. The program is outdated and has received low ratings from EdReports, a nonprofit organization that reviews instructional materials, Karla Stinehart, RISD director of literacy, humanities and arts, told board members during her presentation.
As a result, teachers have had to use supplemental materials with the program that are not necessarily considered high-quality material.
“We have overly invested as a district in supplemental programs and not core instructional programs,” Stinehart said.
“I know right now what we’re using is not working,” Kirk said. “Teachers are not using Reading Street. They’re not using a platform that’s district-wide and therein lies the problem. You’re getting fragmented reading skills taught from K to five with different programs. It’s bothersome. It’s troublesome, very troublesome.”
“My worry is if we don’t adopt a high-quality textbook right now, what is the consequence of that, and my mind goes to the consequence is our students,” Morales said.
While all of the board members agreed a new program is needed, Sanchez asked if CKLA is on the list of programs approved for adoption by the New Mexico Public Education Department.
Stinehart said the department will release a list of elementary ELA programs for adoption in October. That led to a discussion of whether or not the district should adopt the program now or wait to see if it will be on the state’s list. Sanchez was concerned if the district could afford to pay 100% of the cost of a program not on the list.
“So if you adopt a program that is not on the adoption list, are we going to have the money to pay 100% for all this material, or we allowed only the 50%?” Sanchez asked.
Up until two years ago, the Legislature appropriated money to the Instructional Material Fund. According to information provided by the PED, a district could use up to 100% of its allocation from the Instructional Material Fund to pay for a program on the state list, but only up to 50% for a program not on the list. Unspent funds can be carried over to the next year.
For the last two years, the Legislature has included funds for instructional materials in the State Equalization Guarantee, which comprises the bulk of district operational funds. Those instructional material funds do not have limits on how districts can spend them, according to the PED.
Board President Morales said the CKLA program costs about $1.5 million. She asked Chad Cole, assistant superintendent for finance and operations, if he would be comfortable taking the risk of adopting the program before the state releases its list.
“I think if we stick to the state’s list, I always feel comfortable with that,” he said.
“If we purchase prior to the list, we have to use the non-adopted textbook monies,” he said, but added the district would have enough funds for the purchase.
“There is an old allocation of instructional materials where we’ve carried over the cash balance, and yes, I would feel comfortable being able to make this purchase,” he said.
The district could also use funds from the federal Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy grant toward the professional development aspect of the program, Jennifer Cole, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction, said. The district received $833,000 in 2018-19.
“We have some carry-over money that we’re able to use toward this adoption,” she said.
But Sanchez, Edwards and Dolan also expressed concern about whether or not purchasing the program now — only three weeks before school — would give teachers enough time for the training to use the program.
“My concern is … it’s July and we’re going to want to get our staff trained on something new that we didn’t take the time to prepare for, and we’re rushing these teachers in. Do we truly have time to train our staff?” Dolan said.
City/RISD reporter Juno Ogle can be reached at 575-622-7710, ext. 205, or reporter04@rdrnews.com.
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RISD board rejects new textbook adoption for now - Roswell Daily Record
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