Montezuma-Cortez School District RE-1 Board of Education Packet Summary — 2026-09-01
Meeting: Special Meeting Agenda - Sep 01 2026
Scheduled time: 9:15 PM, following Boardmanship Training scheduled from 6:00–9:00 PM
Location: District Administration Office, Board Room, 400 North Elm Street, Cortez, CO 81321
The Board of Education is scheduled for a special meeting focused primarily on the district's 2026–2027 English Language Arts (ELA) curriculum. The agenda includes citizen comments followed by an action item on the curriculum recommendation.
Key Item on the Agenda
2026–2027 ELA Curriculum
Interim Superintendent Drew Pearson recommends that the district use Benchmark digital with print consumables for its 2026–2027 ELA curriculum. The packet describes this as the preferred option because staff are familiar with the curriculum, physical materials can be deployed quickly, and the digital component can support integration with the district's NES instructional practices.
The recommendation is intended to provide students with consistent instructional materials quickly while reducing the burden on teachers to create lessons and print instructional materials. According to the packet, teachers could feasibly begin working with the recommended Benchmark materials as soon as the following week.
Curriculum Options and Costs
The packet identifies five possible approaches:
- Option 1 — Continue without an established reading curriculum: Teachers would independently create lessons using available resources. Cost: Free.
- Option 2 — Benchmark digital-only: Includes online slides, materials, assessments, reporting tools, and lesson-planning tools. Cost: $21,586.81.
- Option 3 — Benchmark digital with print consumables: Includes the digital resources plus consumable student workbooks and reading materials. Cost: $32,753.
- Option 4 — CKLA digital-only: Includes online slides, materials, assessments, reporting tools, and lesson-planning tools. The packet states that CKLA was previously board approved. Cost: Free.
- Option 5 — CKLA digital with print consumables: Adds student consumable workbooks to CKLA's digital resources; reading materials have already been purchased. Cost: Unknown because a quote had not been received.
Pearson ranks Option 3, Benchmark digital with print consumables, as his first choice, followed by Benchmark digital-only as the second choice and CKLA with print consumables as the third choice. He states that he does not recommend the remaining options.
Why Benchmark With Print Consumables Is Recommended
The packet describes speed of implementation and staff familiarity as major reasons for recommending the $32,753 Benchmark option. Teachers already know the content and pacing, and many physical materials remain available. The packet states that maintenance could have existing materials in school buildings by the end of the week.
Staff preference also factors into the recommendation. The packet reports unanimous preference for Benchmark at Lewis, a majority at Kemper, and a split at Mesa based on the principal's report.
The digital component is expected to assist with incorporating NES instructional practices, while purchasing printed consumables would reduce the amount of material the district must print internally.
Printing and Implementation Challenges
Printing capacity is a significant operational concern described in the packet. The district has ordered a high-volume printer, but it had not yet arrived when the recommendation was prepared. Pearson reports that three staff members were working almost full time to keep up with printing demand associated with NES instructional practices.
The district also used Pioneer Printing to help meet demand. According to the packet, that arrangement was scheduled to end during the week of the meeting, and printing demand over the preceding four weeks had already generated a bill in the neighborhood of $10,000.
Pearson argues that these circumstances strengthen the case for purchasing preprinted consumable materials despite their upfront cost.
Training and Curriculum Transition
Staff familiarity is another distinction between the curriculum choices. Pearson states that teachers are familiar with Benchmark, while they are unfamiliar with CKLA and have received no CKLA training.
The packet also says a Benchmark representative had offered to provide needed training support and assistance with the NES slide-building process. Pearson notes that CKLA would likely provide support as well, but cites Benchmark's expressed willingness to assist and its existing training activity in nearby Mancos as reassuring.
Public Participation and Meeting Schedule
The agenda provides time for Citizens Address the Board before the ELA curriculum action item. Public comments are subject to an overall one-hour limit and three minutes per speaker, and participants must submit a completed ticket before the meeting.
The agenda identifies the board's next meeting as September 15, 2026, at 6:00 PM.
What to Watch at the Meeting
The central question is whether the board will act on the superintendent's recommendation to use Benchmark digital with print consumables at a stated cost of $32,753 for the 2026–2027 ELA curriculum.
Key considerations presented in the packet include:
- The additional cost of printed consumables compared with the $21,586.81 digital-only Benchmark option.
- The district's current printing workload and recent outside-printing expense.
- How quickly the recommended materials could be placed in classrooms.
- Staff familiarity with and preferences regarding Benchmark and CKLA.
- Training needs and integration of curriculum materials with NES instructional practices.
- The fact that digital-only CKLA is described as previously board approved and free, while the recommended Benchmark option carries the highest specified upfront cost.
The packet presents Pearson's recommendation and supporting rationale; it does not document the board's decision on the September 1 action item.
Civic Translator summarized publicly available meeting materials provided by the official public-body source.
