Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and current public health guidance, AUSD offered families two instructional programs for the 2020-2021 school year:

• A Flexible Learning Program that provides either in-person or Distance Learning (depending on regional health conditions); and

• A Remote Learning Program that provides online instruction for the entire school year. The Remote Program was designed primarily for families who have concerns about the safety and health of their students and/or family members with in-person instruction during the pandemic.

The curriculum chosen for the Remote Program was Acellus, an online curriculum that AUSD used for online credit recovery for high school students for the last seven years with no reports of problematic content. Over the last several weeks however, families and media outlets have reported Acellus content that is racist, sexist, homophobic, and otherwise not in alignment with AUSD’s core values. An independent review of the program’s content by AUSD staff found additional problematic content.

Upon hearing of these issues, staff immediately reached out to Acellus. Despite the company’s assurances that it was tracking and removing all content tagged as inappropriate, AUSD’s administration is recommending to the Board of Education that the District discontinue use of Acellus for the Remote Learning Program and phase out its use in AUSD’s credit recovery and Special Education programs.

In its place, staff recommends that Edmentum Exact Path, Courseware, and Study Island, an online program that supports standards-based, self-paced learning be used instead for the 2020-2021 Remote Learning Program. District staff have reviewed Edmentum Exact Path, Courseware, and Study Island through both an academic and equity lens and have found it to be a more appropriate program for AUSD students.