The Livingston Board of Education heard a presentation on the 2024-25 budget at its meeting Tuesday night.
Assistant superintendent Mark Stem spoke about the implementation of EduPlanet21, an online platform where educators write and revise their curriculum. EduPlanet21 gives parents access to the curriculums and increasing transparency.
Stem reported that new courses and programs are being added to the district. Math in Focus will be growing into the sixth grade, while Word Study programs will be implemented in kindergarten and first grade.
The gifted and talented music program will be expanded to grades six through eight. The curriculum for AP Microeconomics will be written this summer. A costume design course will be offered next fall. Dance 4 will also be implemented, allowing students to fulfill all four years of their physical education requirements with dance courses.
The district plans to write a course called Innovations in Artificial Intelligence that will make sure these new tools are being used appropriately and ethically. Metal Arts 2 is another course that will be written this summer, as the metal arts program continues to grow.
Open SciEd, a new approach to teaching math and science in a more engaging way, was also discussed. Stem said it helps students “engage in experiments and science discussions to answer questions about natural phenomenon in the world around us using scientific methods.”
The following courses are set to receive new texts and materials: AP Physics 1 ;AP Physics 2 ;AP Precalc; AP Psychology; social studies in sixth through eighth grade; Spanish 1; Spanish 3; Spanish 4; US History 1; and U.S. History 2.
Teresa Rehman, director of Technology and Innovation, spoke about the technology budget, which has enabled the district to make updates to technologies and devices throughout the district.
The upcoming school year’s technology budget has funds delegated for the following: new Chromebooks for kindergarten, fifth grade, and ninth grade; new Macbooks for staff; New iPads for some teachers in seventh through 12th grades; an upgrade to the LHS music lab’s Macs; and upgrading surveillance cameras district wide.
Rehman also notes the plan to continue replacing the interactive smart boards with interactive panels at the elementary schools as well as making updates to the LHS TV studio. The budget also outlines district plans to continue updating its cybersecurity posture.
Angelina Rodriguez, the supervisor of elementary mathematics, reported on Math in Focus, a math curriculum that highlights problem solving.
In her report, she discussed the discovery of discrepancies of what was being taught among different schools, so they developed a districtwide mathematics community, which has yielded more cohesion and the development of a common knowledge and best practices.
Math in Focus has been successfully rolled out one grade at a time, she said. This allowed students to learn about strategy-based approaches and helps find what works best for each specific student. “We need to meet our students where they are and we need to find what works for them personally,” said Rodriguez.
Development has begun on a new parent resource allowing guardians to watch videos explaining different concepts in math, so they can further help their child learn.
In regard to Math in Focus, teachers have pointed out the increased consistency from year to year. It has also given students connections where teachers can call back what was learned in previous grades, and there is a common consistency.
Laura Dugan, a teacher at Hillside, said that mathematically, life has been better for the students than ever before. “Life is math now, and they’re living it instead of going through the motions.”
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