Curriculum materials include Common Core

The St. Mary Parish School Board will debut its proposed curriculum materials that are in line with Common Core State Standards for the 2014-15 school year Thursday.
Common Core is a rigorous set of standards for the English language arts and mathematics curriculum that is set to be implemented in the coming school year. The majority of U.S. states have approved the standards.
Parents and members of the community are invited to review the materials from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday at the Central Office Complex lobby in Centerville.
Brooke Falgout, a St. Mary activist in the grassroots movement against Common Core, said she would have liked to see a similar panel for review of existing material.
“I think it’s great that they are letting people come in and review materials that they are thinking about buying. … I think it’s great they’re finally including us in the implementation, but I wish they would have included us early on,” Falgout said.
Superintendent Donald Aguillard said curriculum materials in English grades 6-8, math grades 6-8, algebra 1 and geometry will be on display. Additionally, Aguillard said the recommended novel list for middle school will be available for review as well.
For the grades not included in Thursday’s preview, the superintendent said, via email, “We purchased a new basal reader this year for elementary grades. We will be continuing use of Deep Math materials in elementary schools as their books were upgraded to match Common Core. Thus, we will not be displaying elementary books. High schools purchased additional novels this year. The only new books are middle school.”
Curriculum resources in English and math have been examined and evaluated by teachers, administrators and district personnel as well as rated by state review committees, Aguillard said. Materials available for review will include both student and teacher resources. Instructional program managers will be on hand to answer questions concerning the recommended resources, he said.
This is the first viewing of Common Core materials St. Mary Parish will utilize.
“We want to afford parents the opportunity to view our recommended selections,” Aguillard said.
The school system is tentatively setting aside $500,000 for textbook purchases in 2014-15. This figure is down $225,000 from 2013-14 budget, Aguillard said, adding that textbooks likely would be ordered in late April or early May to arrive in time for the beginning of school in August.
“This affects everyone whether you have kids in school anymore or not because this affects our future generation,” Falgout said.