Schools
D-26 Grapples with Cost of 2014 Curriculum Standards
New standards for reading, writing and arithmetic will probably mean the need to purchase new textbooks and computer software.
Every state in the U.S. by 2014 – except for Texas and Virginia – will share common-core standards in English, mathematics, reading and science.
And that will probably mean that will need to purchase new textbooks and computer software at a cost that members of the Curriculum Committee couldn’t even guess at Monday night.
“I think that this will be what they call an unfunded mandate,” said Julie Jette, a member of the Board of Education.
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Three-fourths of U.S. high school students fall short of the ACT’s definition of being prepared for a university education, school officials say. National standards in curriculum aimed at improving test scores are to be implemented.
“It will be hard to determine how much this will cost,” Supt. Brian Coleman told school officials. “What we do know is that everyone is in the same predicament.”
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“We’ve got our work cut out for us,” said Valerie McCall, director of curriculum and instruction for the school district.
School officials have been looking for ways to trim the district’s $32 million budget. And the cost of registration – ranging from $188 to $218 per student – is among the most expensive in the county.
In other business, members of the finance committee said they would recommend that the Board of Education go into closed-door session at next Monday's meeting to discuss new strategies to sell the shuttered . The asking price is $2.2 million.
School officials may hire a broker that would conduct a national search for buyers.
Possible uses for the property could be a charter school. Or the school could be razed to make way for the construction of a retail or residential development.
