Talking Textbooks and Timelines

HUSD Textbook Updates And Troubles

The Hayward Unified School District (HUSD) Board received the update, mandated by State Law, confirming that up-to-date textbooks are available to students throughout the District. Director of Curriculum, Hector Garcia, reassured the Board that Common Core curriculum textbooks are available to all students in some form. “[This makes] our district up to par, shall we say, in making sure that Common Core curriculum has been purchased and made accessible,” he said.

However, Mr. Garcia stressed that the District’s budget issues are having an impact on textbook accessibility. “[We are] being resourceful with the very limited funding that we have had,” he said. This past school year High School textbooks for Health and Chemical and Environmental Sciences were purchased in Spring, as well as History and Social Sciences books for K-8th Grade.

But other subjects are still lagging 10-15 years behind where the curriculum should be. For example, the remaining Science areas for High Schools weren’t able to be purchased last Spring because of funding issues. Other updates that will be needed in the 26/27 school year are for Math (K-12), History and Social Sciences (9-12), and Science (K-5).

For those wondering how the school sites can still be in compliance while still having old textbooks, Mr. Garcia explained that the compliance audit—which only included 10 schools—includes access “of hard copy and/or online access.” When asked for details, Mr. Garcia explained that, for example, the District purchased a software called STEM Scopes from Accelerated Learning as a stopgap until actual books are available. However, this subscription does come with additional costs.

The situation with elementary science is similar, with the district purchasing access to Mystery Science Online to supplement the textbooks, which are 10-15 years old and aren’t Next Generation Science Standards-aligned. The plan also extends to High School Math, which is also relying on subscription-based services to plug the standards gap in decade-old textbooks.

These subscriptions, which are certainly cheaper in the short-term, are filling in for a larger one-time investment that’s needed to purchase the books that students really need. “We’re trying to figure out cost-cutting measures,” Mr. Garcia said, “that allows for us to save enough money to make the full purchase.” For the High School History and Social Sciences books, for example, the District negotiated an installment plan to pay for the books over several years—likely costing the district more in the long-run.

Trustee Prada asked for the cost of the supplementary materials, but Mr. Garcia did not have that information in front of him, and said he would provide it to the Board at a later time.

It’s Not Just About Money

Frequent public commenter and parent, Araceli Orozco, complained that even when the District had the textbooks in hand, it took several weeks to process the books and get them into the hands of the students. She alleged that it was due to some issue with barcodes, though was short on details. Ms. Orozco said that, after working with Mr. Garcia, the problem was resolved, but insisted that the multi-week delay was unacceptable and detrimental to student learning.

Another commenter, Maria Del Carmen Espinoza, expressed concern about how standards are being followed by some teachers. While recognizing that the curriculum does require some modification, especially for students having troubles, she pushed for more teacher oversight. However, Trustee Bruckner-Carrillo appeared to take issue with the comment. “[One commenter] had a question about whether or not it was appropriate for educators to exercise academic freedom.”

One of the recommended actions of the Systemic Instructional Review (SIR) is to create local assessments to compare instruction across classrooms. And at a December 2023 HUSD Board Meeting, Trustee Rawdon expressed concern about the uniformity of instruction in English/Language Arts, with Staff seeming to confirm that some teachers were still “transitioning” to Common Core curriculum.

Students And Teachers Need Those Textbooks

With so much of the hold-up being with money, Trustee Prada asked that future presentations include the dollar amount needed for upcoming textbook purchases. She also asked Mr. Garcia to explore partnerships—including with the Hayward Public Library—to help get materials. Mr. Garcia said that the Hayward Public Library already provides free access to supplementary materials that some teachers use.

Trustee Bruckner-Carrillo asked if the District was budgeting to find ways to purchase those missing textbooks. Assistant Superintendent of Finance, Amy Nichols, said that the District has a budget for textbooks, but that they are still investigating the cost—especially in light of recent inflation fueled by the Trump Administration’s policy decisions. Ms. Nichols said that annual Lottery funds, usually between $1,300,000 and $1,500,000, are earmarked for textbooks but that the District may need to work to ensure that the funds are sufficient.

Trustee Rawdon asked for clarification about whether the books being purchased are physical or eBooks. Mr. Garcia said that all purchases since 2020 have been both print and digital, so students can access either. Trustee Bruckner-Carrillo asked about the status of student Chromebooks—each student in HUSD is assigned a Chromebook.

The Information Technology (IT) Director said that the only students without a Chromebook assigned are newly-enrolled students, but there are around 380 students who are waiting for repairs or replacements. However, he also said that every school should have loaner Chromebooks, and that most sites should still have them available.

Trustee Rawdon asked why Art books aren’t included in the assessment. Mr. Garcia explained that the assessment only includes English, Math, Science, and History/Social Science, and High School lab equipment. Trustee Rawdon asked if Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) supplies were included. Mr. Garcia said they were not included in the review, but there is money set aside for art supplies.

Mr. Garcia closed by saying that it was important to purchase the remaining Science books by the 26/27 school year, or the recommendations risk becoming obsolete.

Plan To Minimize The Pain

The HUSD Board of Trustees approved a timeline for the upcoming Fiscal Solvency Plan, complying with the final condition put forward by the Alameda County Board of Education (ACBOE). The primary reason for developing the next Fiscal Solvency Plan is because the District is still predicted to dip below the State-mandated 3% reserves balance by the end of FY 26/27.

Assistant Superintendent of Finance, Amy Nichols, stressed that approving the plan was non-negotiable. “It also confirms the Board’s commitment,” she said, “to implement those solutions, which could potentially mean layoffs, by the statutory deadline of March 15.” This is a similar timeline given to the Board last year, though the cuts will not be nearly so severe—a mere $11,000,000 as opposed to the previous $50,000,000.

The solutions that will be explored, according to Ms. Nichols, are being prioritized in the following order:

1. Maximize use of restricted funds for programs—Using grant and bond money as best it can.
2. Revenue Generation—the District will likely explore the possibility of a parcel tax in 2026
3. Controlling Supply and Contract costs—this has been an area of focus for Trustee Bruckner-Carrillo and sometimes results in higher costs than using existing District resources
4. Reduce discretionary extra-duty compensation
5. Staff Reductions—the layoffs referred to by Ms. Nichols
6. Program or Service consolidation or reduction—that would mean cutting entire programs, likely in conjunction with layoffs

The timeline for developing the Fiscal Solvency Plan generally earmarked October-December 2025 for community town halls, discussions with labor partners and small groups, and data analysis and reflection. In January, the Board would be presented with a list of possible solutions and refine them down to a final list. And in February, the Board would vote to adopt the final list of solutions.

A more detailed timeline will be presented at the October 22nd Board meeting and a detailed mid-year financial report will be presented at the December 10th Board meeting.

Doing A Lot With Not Much Time

Trustee Oquenda stressed the need for community input on the process. “I think that we just don’t want to be in the position we were in last time,” she said, “where we had two meetings to make those difficult decisions and the community felt that they didn’t have time for input.” She continued, “It feels a little tight to me.”

She pressed for a full and detailed list of dates and meetings, despite being told they’d be presented at the next meeting in October. “The Board, I think, is just feeling so worried because we don’t want to go through a rushed process.” This feeling was shared by all other present Board members.

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Trustee Bruckner-Carrillo questioned meeting frequency, pointing out that there is one Board meeting each in November and December. “I’m just worried that we’re not setting ourselves up for success,” he said, “by only having one meeting in November and one meeting in December and then a ton of items for our January meeting.” He suggested, not for the first time, additional meetings.

Trustee Rawdon said, “This is a pretty crunchy timeline.” He asked how many town halls or community meetings there would be, and was told 4-5 Town Hall meetings, plus additional meetings with other District committees. Trustee Rawdon pushed for an even more condensed timeline. “The month of December is terrible for most people for that type of thing,” he said. “Get it done before December gets here.”

Trustee Rawdon specifically said he wanted a full list of recommendations by December, time to reflect over the Winter Break, refine the list in a first January meeting, and then finalize the list at a second January meeting. However Ms. Nichols said that it may not be possible. “I can attempt to do that,” she said, before pointing out that getting something ready for December meant having it ready half-way through November.

Trustee Prada seemed supportive of having more meetings in January—up to three, it seemed. But she also requested that Staff get feedback on the potential impact on specific Site Administrators, followed by a second impact analysis after the list is decided upon.

Trustee Bruckner-Carrillo suggested identifying big things that aren’t being considered in December and offer more town halls in January and February. “The idea that we go to folks, say we’re short, but then to not come back to them with options [saying] this is what it might look like… I would like to see that in January or February,” he said.

Trustee Oquenda supported consulting with Site Administrators, while also noting that some of the ways that cuts are implemented are determined by labor contracts. “We want something that’s more intentional on the second round,” she said.

The Board voted unanimously for the March 15 deadline, but the timeline for outreach and Budget Solutions development remains unclear.