“Please look into where the money went for the new English textbooks.”

A current Lee County teacher · submitted anonymously through the form on this page, September 2026

Please look into where the money went for the new English textbooks. We were told they would be delayed, but we had online texts. Then we were told we would not receive the textbooks and that we would return to using the old (subpar) textbooks. However, we had all started lessons using the new online text. We continued using the online text so we could finish the unit.

Then, literally in the middle of the school day while using the online access, both students and teachers no longer had access. When we sent in help tickets we were told the district was no longer supporting the platform. When we emailed the curriculum people at the district we were told we would have access until mid October to finish our units. Then the district sent out a notice that we would have access until September 11. This was AFTER the online texts had already been removed from our launch pads and student launch pads. We lost student work and were left without resources mid unit.

The district claimed it was a publisher issue, but no one believes that. We were getting regular emails from the publishers. The board approved spending millions on the new textbooks. What happened? Was the money not used to buy the new textbooks? If the money was used to buy new textbooks, but the publisher was unable to fulfill the order, is the district being refunded the millions of dollars? What happened to that money? The district adopts new textbooks for every subject on a five-year rotation. Why did it fail to do so this year?

This is a personal account. The views are the storyteller’s own.