A. At the start of school we needed about 50 more Advanced Placement (AP) history books at the high school level and about 150 more third-grade reading books district-wide. There may also be other areas where we are in need of a few books, but these are the largest areas of need.
Q. How did this happen?
A. Let’s look at the areas separately, since the causes are different.
- Spring AP history enrollment numbers were used to order the books for those courses. The State system will only allow a small percentage over the enrollment to be ordered, so it is not possible for us to estimate, say 20%, higher than our actual enrollment. By the time school started, our enrollment in AP history was larger than the spring numbers that were used for ordering purposes. The problem is compounded by the fact that a newer version of the textbook is set to be released soon, which we believe means the current version is no longer being printed. In our discussions with other districts, we have found that they are also having problems finding copies of this book. The district acquired some used books for the interim. At the request of the district, an incomplete number was shipped to the district. These books were received Monday September 29. This number will cover the current number of students and additional books will be shipped to complete the order as they become available.
- In reviewing our textbook inventory, we have discovered that three complete boxes (150 books) of third-grade reading textbooks are not in our possession. It is our determination that the district was never in possession of these textbooks and has been operating without them for the past two years. We believe that we have been able to do so without any students going without a textbook because several campuses were departmentalized in third-grade, meaning that their third-grade students did not use a textbook at the same time. With the opening of three elementary campuses this year, we are working as quickly as we can to get a textbook into the hands of each student. The books have been ordered and our textbook coordinator has spoken with the publisher to put a rush on the order. We are hopeful that the books will be here within a week.
Q. What about the three new campuses? How did we open three new campuses with no new books?
A. School districts don't receive new books when they open new schools. We get additional books for new students, but not for existing students who move to a new campus. Instead, books must be transferred from existing schools to the new schools. Books ordered from the state can come from publishers and distributors or from other school districts anywhere in the state who have a surplus of books. Several of the publishers are in the Houston area, so unfortunately Hurricane Ike had an effect on the time-line for shipping and distribution. In our district the large renovation projects at Bryson and Elkins Elementary Schools left us unable to transfer surplus books from those campuses until after school started. Add into that the Skyward conversion (our data base management system), which created some delays and it has created the "perfect storm" of sorts that has put us behind in several areas.
Q. What will the students do in the meantime?
A. While a textbook is a valuable tool in the teacher’s toolbox, it is not the only tool that a teacher utilizes. Teachers utilize many different tools to make sure students get the best education possible. These tools include direct instruction, manipulatives, handouts, and computer aided instruction. While textbooks are a valuable part of the equation, they are only one part.
Q. What are we doing to make sure this doesn’t happen again?
A. Prior to last year, the district did not have a staff member designated to the ordering, inventory, distribution, and recovery or textbooks. This position was created last year and is now in its first full year. An assistant to this position has been requested. With 15,000 students and numerous classes and textbooks for each of those students, you can see how important it is that we have employees that are designated to keeping up with textbooks. We have recently received a Texas Education Agency (TEA) designation as a fast growth district that allows us to have a larger percentage of extra books on hand. The addition of the new main frame system, SKYWARD, also allows us to track student numbers more accurately as changes occur.
Q. Who should I contact if I have concerns?
A. Karen McClanahan is the Instructional Media Coordniator and is in charge of ordering, distributing and maintaining textbooks. You can reach her at kmac@ems-isd.net.
