Preparing for the pending Common Core State Standards (CCSS) implementation was a primary topic at the Feb. 3 Oakdale Joint Unified School District Board of Trustees regular meeting.

In business, the board approved the adoption of “Engage New York” for kindergarten through twelfth grades, and also “Math Vision Project” for ninth through twelfth grades, which are aligned with CCSS. These are integrated math “bridging materials” to help the district transition into CCSS and are both part of public domain, and therefore, free, aside from the cost of duplication of the material.

Kristi Rapinchuk, OJUSD Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum said that the district reviewed other available materials and noted that these are not perfect but they are better than other publisher-created materials that are currently available. The district will use these materials and avoid making the fiscal commitment until they find the appropriate developed math curriculum from a publisher.

Also in business, the board held a public hearing on the Common Core expenditure plan. This item will “sunshine” for a month and will come before the board for a vote at the March 10 regular meeting. The district will receive a one-time allotment of $1.05 million from the state to be spent in 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 as part of the implementation of CCSS curriculum. It’s proposed that the funds be used for technology at a cost of $883,000, for staff development at a cost of $17,000, and for two curriculum coaches to support with math and technology at a cost of $180,000. Oakdale Home Study Charter will also receive a little over $14,000 from the state to be used for technology and staff development. Rapinchuk said that the technology portion for OJUSD includes a total of 30 stationary Chromebooks (personal computers) that will be placed at the school sites. She said it makes sense to spend most of the money on technology.

In other business, the board approved the 2014-2015 school year calendar. There will not be any furlough days next school year and the remainder of the 2013-2014 school year will also not have any furlough days.

Also in other business, the board approved a change to the 2014 board meeting calendar. The meeting that had been scheduled for Nov. 10 falls on a school holiday schedule that coincides with the Veteran’s Day holiday; therefore, the meeting date is rescheduled to Nov. 17.

The board also approved posting the Student Accountability Report Card (SARC) publication for the 2012-2013 school year, as per state law. The SARC is similar to an annual report for the community in order to evaluate and compare schools and may be obtained via the Internet through the district and school websites or by requesting a hardcopy version from the school site.

The next regular meeting of the OJUSD Board of Trustees will be at 6:30 p.m.on Monday, March 10 at Oakdale City Council Chambers, 277 N. Second.