The Rockdale school board will vote on adopting new math texbooks from four companies for grades K-12 at its March 21 meeting.

The cost will be about $1.4 million in the 2013-2014 school year budget, said Chief Academic Officer Leslie DeMarco at Thursday night’s work session. 

The review process began last summer and included input from teachers and sessions where parents could review proposed books. DeMarco said the committee asked publishers to address three issues, including “the issue of equity, to ensure the materials were presented in a culturally competent manner and that the materials were presented in a way that attended to the needs of a diverse population with various learning styles and abilities.” Being able to assess students’ progress through the year for intervention and having digital access to materials were also priorities. 

Superintendent Richard Autry said, “I think this board has heard from our parents and high school students that we have had a disconnect with our resources.”

The school system previously put off adopting new textbooks, normally adopted on a seven-year cycle,  as the state moved towards common core standards and away from integrated math in high schools.