Palo Alto Unified School District board members are working to add Multivariable Calculus as an after-school math elective at Palo Alto High School due to a school board meeting earlier this month.
Shana Segal, Palo Alto Unified School District board president, said significant participation from students, teachers and parents allowed the board to discuss the topic on Jan. 21. According to Segal, working with the PAUSD calendar has been part of the conversation between PAUSD and Foothill College.
“We have had recent communication from Foothill that they will do their best to offer it after school ideally at both Gunn and Paly,” Segal said. “Foothill has expressed a willingness to identify an instructor who can teach advanced math courses on a PAUSD campus after school subject to staffing availability and interest. This seems to be the most optimal outcome available at this time.”
New board member Rowena Chiu said that her opinion on the subject stems from the basis of her campaign.
“One of the bases for my campaign is appropriate academic placement,” Chiu said. “I have always been very moved by students who have been willing to come forward and be incredibly articulate about their own path in life and about their own choices. I think we all agree that PAUSD stands for and must stand for excellence. The board strives for excellence, but I think we may disagree on how we get there.”
According to Chiu, student participation at the board meeting has a substantial impact on how she views the topic.
“As a parent, I have seen the importance of allowing each child to discover their own intrinsic motivation and their own path in life and pursue their own passions,” Chiu said. “For all of those high school students that came and spoke at this board meeting and a few middle school students, I really commend not only your ability to wisely make choices for your direction in life but also to go against the grain and push a little harder.”
Chiu said she wishes for the district to listen to student voices and take their opinions into account.
“I hope this district will support you in what’s clearly a passion and not suppress advancement, acceleration and choice,” Chiu said.
However, Superintendent Don Austin said that including MVC as a class through Foothill would be challenging during the day for the upcoming school year due to the preexisiting board approval process.
“Community colleges can tell you with certainty what days of the week and what time the classes are offered but our high schools have funny schedules,” Austin said. “They rotate; they’re not as predictable for someone who’s trying to put things together. So there’s some practical pieces that Foothill has already acknowledged. Our problems for them are just practical barriers. The best situation would be our own teachers, which we would all prefer for a whole lot of reasons.”
According to freshman Oscar Varodayan, he is currently enrolled in Analysis Honors and will be unable to take a math class his senior year without MVC.
“I’m going to finish calculus next year in 10th grade, and statistics in 11th grade, this leaves me without a class to take in 12th grade,” Varodayan said. “I personally know many other students in my grade who are also in this predicament. We have followed PAUSD board policies and we’re going to be left in 12th grade without a math class to take. So I strongly urge the board to vote for MVC.”
According to Shounak Dharap, vice president of PAUSD school board, regardless of the outcome, he is supportive of the teachers who are actively working on something to improve students’ education.
“The best thing the Board can do is support the professionals in our district to go out on a limb, be creative, be innovative, and come up with what they think is best to serve the students in our district,” Dharap said. “We’ve heard that our math teachers think that it might be the best thing for some of our students for many of our students to have a math elective beyond BC Calculus, and I applaud our teachers and any teachers who are going out to create curriculum, to serve our students.”
Dharap mentions the importance of having teacher input in the school curriculum and trusting them to make that input.
“I look forward to seeing that curriculum when it comes up to the board because I think every opportunity we have as a board to affirm teachers’ professional judgment and create curriculums is another opportunity we have to show the teachers in our district that we trust them to show the professionals in our district that we trust them,” Dharap said.
According to sophomore Noah Espinoza, he is currently taking Analysis Honors this year, putting him on track to take MVC his senior year. He expresses his passion for both theater and math and not wanting to choose between the two.
“If Multivariable Calculus is not reinstated on campus by my senior year, I may have to go off campus, meaning that I won’t be able to pursue my other interests such as theater,” Espinoza said. “I urge you all to reinstate Multivariable Calculus as a dual enrollment course on campus so that students don’t have to choose between pursuing their academic heights and passions that they truly enjoy.”
