Friends,
We have had a wonderful textbook caravan season. The general feedback I've gotten from you along the way is that you LIKE your choices - which is good news!
You'll recall that you are expected to make your local board adoption decision at your March Board meeting - & then you are to send those results to Dr. Jones
We do not yet, though, have a state board vote on social studies or arts ed books. We are expecting some action and/or direction from Dr. Mackey & the Board at the February Board meeting. He has been clear that we were to proceed with the caravan; he knows you need these new social studies texts.
While you should NOT take Board action until we hear from Dr. Mackey, I strongly recommend that you be "sitting on G...waiting on O" with your district's recommendations. In other words - narrow down to a top 3 & rank order those top 3, K-12. I would communicate with your local committee what the situation is - why you are doing a rank order. The idea would be that IF your #1 choices are "in the clear", then you can move forward with your #1s in each grade span group as your recommendation. If for some reason your #1 choice is specifically rejected by the ALSDE Board, then you can move to your #2.
⚠️ As a reminder, we need data on what districts are adopting in order to be ready for your orders. Publishers ultimately print & ship what they expect to sell. Please complete this short survey, & let me know how things are looking in your district, K-12 as of right now You are NOT being held in any way to this update - & the information you share is confidential with us at Publishers' Warehouse. We would be using the info generally, on the whole, to assist us with initial orders of materials.
Lisa & I will be attending the February state board meeting & will report back to you with updates at that time.
Feel free to reach out to me with questions about your next steps.
-Patrick