Board approves Newsela subscription for K–8 after questions about content review and copyright

The Council Rock School District Board voted to approve a Newsela purchase for K–8 classrooms on July 17 after trustees discussed copyright, content adaptation and audit concerns.

Administration described Newsela as a platform that repurposes articles from multiple news sources and adjusts language to students’ reading levels so that different readers can engage with the same topics. As district presenters said, “Newsela is a product that is used that takes articles from various news sources and changes the language to match the reading level of the students who are looking at the content.” The district intends the purchase to support differentiated instruction in English language arts for K–8 (the district uses a separate product for high school).

Board member Joseph Roosevelt asked for an audit and examples before approving because of concerns that content could be manipulated or that copyrights could be misused. Mr. Roosevelt said he found the technology “interesting” but wanted examples before he could be “confident that intellectual property or copyrights aren't being abused and more importantly that the content isn't being manipulated.” Mr. Hidalgo said he would vote yes but planned to audit the product himself and asked whether the contract was for one year; administration confirmed it is for one year.

The roll call recorded eight yes votes and one no vote (Mr. Roosevelt). The board president directed that the contract be subject to the solicitor’s review and audit as part of the approval.

The district plans to use Newsela to differentiate reading levels in K–8 classrooms, and administration emphasized that content partners are listed by Newsela and that the district selected the vendor to provide broader and leveled access to current events and informational texts for classroom discussion.