Training Session This Thursday + A Couple Bits of Info
District Leaders:
I had 41 folks in my textbook zoom session last Friday afternoon- glad you were with us if you were one of those! Session choice #2 is this coming Thursday morning at 8:30 until 10:00.
Click here for the Zoom links you will need to view the presentation.
Please join us if you're available!
This website is full of lots of helpful info! On the "adoption info" section,
for example, you'll find sample textbook forms you can use as well as a PDF of the powerpoint from my Sept Zoom presentations for your reference: Check it out here.
Just a quick reminder - the first of my Zoom Trainings is This Friday, Sept. 12 from 1:00-2:30 (not 3:00).
Click here for the Zoom links you will need to view the presentation. As a reminder, there are 2 other options - different days/times for your convenience.
Other Quick Reminders for You:
ou should be getting your district's textbook committee approved at your Sept or Oct. Board Meeting.
First of Oct: I will email you a list of participating publishers in the social studies adoption for you to request samples. It will have the reps contact names, numbers, & emails.
We already have social studies caravan reservations from 78 districts - thanks so much for jumping on this so quickly; I know you have LOTS going on! It really helps us with our planning!
As a reminder, the deadline is this Friday, August 22nd. RESERVE YOUR SPACE HERE if you have yet to do so. At this time, you are JUST reserving seats for the elementary & secondary sessions you wish your district to attend. You don't need the names 'til later.
I'll be in Montgomery tomorrow with the ALSDE committees who are finishing their reviews. With that in mind, it is really too early to begin seeking samples. But there are things you can be doing now & throughout September which can help your review process run much more smoothly:
On behalf of the team at PW, we hope all of you are having a wonderful start to the 2025-2026 school year!
One of your main tasks this year will be in leading the selection process for Social Studies & Arts Education textbooks for your district. The Alabama State Board of Education is slated to approve state committee recommendations
at its Nov. 13 meeting. We are hosting Textbook Caravans for social studies around the state in inservice regions in November, December, & January (click for dates & locations). Your district's Board of Education should make its decision, based on your local committee's recommendation, at your March Board meeting. We have moved these caravan dates BACK in the calendar to the greatest
How well I remember the busy nature of this time of year! Thinking of all of you as you work tirelessly to have school ready to open for your teachers & students! Our warehouse is working in a similar fashion - 7 days a week this time of year to get books out to you. We just got in that high school Cengage many of you have been waiting on - & we're awaiting some backorders that some of you may need with certain grade levels of Savvas elementary math. The hard-back secondary Savvas science books will come in soon - though the digital should be activated. And finally, McGraw-Hill math kits (we've been waiting on the last part of that...) will go out soon as well. There are other orders, too, but these are ones which affect a few of you.
Here are some important updates regarding social studies adoptions for the coming year
Our warehouse at PW is busy working 7 days a week to get your new Science & Career Tech textbooks (as well as ELA Reading & Math consumable texts) & others out to you by the start of school! If you've not received one of your subjects yet, chances are we are waiting for all the pieces & parts (or grade levels) to arrive before sending out. We try to avoid back orders when at all possible.
I would ask that you please remind your principals that they need to be sure to have their buildings covered Monday through Thursday for the rest of the summer. While publishing companies might drop "free with" materials at your door unexpectedly, most of our deliveries are prescheduled for your convenience, whether it's coming on a brokered truck, through AAA Cooper, or one of our trucks. Let's keep the lines of communication open so that your folks get what they need!
Disposal of Textbooks and Other End of School Updates
Happy end of the school year! Now begins the deceptively quiet period of summer. I wanted to provide you an update on textbooks - but the main purpose of this update is to help those of you who are NEWER with what to do with all the old science or career tech textbooks.
I. General Updates on Instructional Materials
PW is busy sending out your new science books, your new career tech books, & other fill-in books you may have ordered! We know that Fridays are off the table for deliveries in the summer!
For those of you who break out your science deliveries to schools, Here is a document that you may wish to share or reference with your schools. It should help them
Publishers' Warehouse was proud to work the ALSDE & the AL Legislature to secure a significant increase in funding for state & locally adopted textbooks. Districts had received $70 per student for many years. For the 2024-2025 school year, districts are receiving approximately $134 per student, broken down in the following ways:
State Foundation Program: $100 per student (up from $70)
Supplemental Appropriations: The legislature appropriated an addition $25 million for schools to utilize "in the same manner as traditional textbook funds." This appropriation provides districts with an EXTRA $34 per student (approximately). This represents over a 90% increase in textbook funds for the 2024-2025 school year. Please click on this attachment to view Dr. Mackey's memo regarding how to access these funds. The memo
