At its meeting, the JISD board of trustees voted 5-2 to accept an adoption of mathematics materials selected by the Instructional Materials Committee for implementation in the 2025-26 school year. The dissenting votes were Laura Stanford and Monica Ryan, who had concerns on lack of buy-in from JISD teachers and neighboring school districts, respectively.
How we got here
The board approved mathematics instructional materials for kindergarten through eighth grade, as well as Algebra I materials, selecting Bluebonnet Learning from Carnegie Learning, Inc. Carnegie materials were also accepted for sixth-eighth grade accelerated mathematics and Algebra I.
The district selected Bluebonnet Learning from the High Quality Instructional Materials list selected by the State Board of Education, electing to continue use of existing products in all other academic areas for the 2025-26 school year, according to agenda documents.
Selecting Bluebonnet Learning meets district requirements for Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills certification, according to agenda documents.
Along with meeting TEKS requirements, the district will receive an additional $60 per JISD student on top of its Instructional Materials Allotment from the state, Assistant Superintendent Lacey Gosch said.
Of the $60, Gosch said, $40 comes from adopting the materials, with another $20 that goes toward professional development for staff. That money, Gosch said, will be provided for every student at JISD, regardless of grade level and participation in Bluebonnet.
Mary Duhart-Toppen, Deputy Superintendent of Teaching and Learning, told the board that mathematics performance has been a struggle for several years, namely students not meeting grade level expectations on standardized testing.
“We have got to match the rigor level of where our students are being tested, not only on [State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness] but on SAT [and] ACT,” Duhart-Toppen said.
What they’re saying
Kristin Saunders, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction, said prior reviews of the materials with district staff led to much feedback, particularly on Bluebonnet Learning being “teacher heavy in preparation.” She added that this makes professional development that much more important.
“The bulk of the feedback we got from elementary [staff] is, we’re on board because we’ve already been doing something very similar to this ... [but they] want more PD, more thorough PD, and want the PD earlier as opposed to later,” Saunders said.
During public comment, Marcie Stowell, a Veterans Memorial High School math teacher, also raised concern taking on a new curriculum without a “proven track record of success,” and said the scripted approach of Bluebonnet Learning restricts teacher judgment and flexibility in the classroom.
“[Bluebonnet Learning forces] us to follow rigid scripts and pacing guides, making it difficult to adapt lessons to the unique needs of our students,” Stowell said.
The newfound staff issues gave pause to Stanford, who was initially in favor of the curriculum.
“I’m just questioning now how much buy-in we have from our teachers and that’s what I would want a level of confidence about ... that they see the value, because they’re the ones who are going to be using it,” Stanford said.
Gosch said a districtwide staff review of materials took place Feb. 2, with 130 elementary school teachers attending along with 21 middle school and 13 high school math teachers. The later feedback, trustee Jose Macias said, was different than what he’d been hearing.
“We always want to hear from our employees about their concerns, but ... there’s still, it appears, a disconnect in speaking with some of them,” Macias said.
Next steps
Gosch said materials will be provided in time to begin professional development for staff for the 2025-26 school year implementation.
Along with Bluebonnet Learning, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt was selected for Algebra II and geometry materials, Consenza Resources was picked for Algebraic Reasoning, BFW was chosen for statistics and Pearson was picked for Math Models.
