Fall River Subcommittee Cuts Three Ed-Tech Contracts, Advances Seven Curriculum Pilots

School Committee · Meeting of July 15, 2026

Fall River's Instructional Subcommittee voted to cut three underperforming educational technology contracts totaling $173,000 and referred a slate of curriculum pilots to the full School Committee at its July 15 meeting. Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning Brian Stephens and Elementary Literacy Director Steph Kennedy proposed discontinuing Lexia English — a $125,000 platform for multilingual learners showing only 22 percent completion and 22 minutes of average weekly use — in favor of Moat, an oral-language tool estimated at $14,000 to $19,000. The Elevation professional-learning module for MLL staff, at $48,000, was also targeted for discontinuation after a usage audit found modules routinely started but never finished.

Lexia Core 5 will be pulled from kindergarten and grades three through five, retaining only grades one and two, saving an estimated $50,000; the $44,000 iReady ELA assessment platform will partially offset that savings. Member Riley challenged a proposed double-block Algebra I pilot for ninth graders, arguing the research base is thin and that doubling down on a subject students already struggle with risks crowding out confidence-building electives, prompting staff to promise alternative designs including a summer ramp-up option. A pilot of EL Education literacy materials in 23 kindergarten and eight other classrooms was referred pending an August 21 PRISM grant decision, with Riley warning against a third green-rated ELA curriculum when the district is already using Wonders and ARC.

In the full story:

• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report — 2,896 words

Source: the School Committee meeting of July 15, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.