BRYAN, Texas — During a Bryan independent school district board workshop last week, the board of trustees unanimously approved a purchasing agreement to be used on kindergarten through fifth-grade instructional materials.
"We prioritize the classroom first, we make sure that our teachers and our students have what they need to be safe and successful in the classroom, Associate Superintendent of Teaching & Learning, Barbara Ybarra said. "Just thankful to our board of trustees for ensuring that the funds are placed with the best priority to impact the classroom in a positive way."
BISD approved a similar agreement back in 2019 which spanned 8 years. The school district ordered the full duration of the digital material, but only the first 4 years' worth of print material because they wanted to see how effective it was first.
"How do our students respond to them? How do our teachers respond to them? And is it worth the investment of the additional print materials for our students, for our instructional material?" Ybarra said. "We're pleased to hear that our teachers love them, our students love them, and they are making a difference in our classrooms"
The teachers of Bryan ISD first came to the school board to request the resources, and now over $50,000 is being put forward to provide BISD elementary students with English language arts and reading instructional materials.
"With that comes a consumable book that the students utilize in ELA as well as a number of resources for the teachers and for the students," Ybarra said. "They actually write in the books and mark up the books. It's a consumable material that the kids use in class each and every day."