Priya Tamura
Junior Kira Tzeng is solving her AP Calculus BC homework problems. Tzeng said she can understand why people would rather take Multivariable Calculus online, but she has a different perspective. "From a personal perspective it’s just better if it were during the school day," Tzeng said. "With all my extracurriculars, adding on an extra class will increase the stress I’ll have and then having it during senior year, especially first semester — it will be a lot on my plate."
The Palo Alto Unified School District Board is preparing to clarify the implementation plan for the new Multivariable Calculus course tonight at the district office.
The discussion was placed on the agenda at the request of school board Vice President Rowena Chiu during the previous board meeting. Her motion followed the Palo Alto High School Education Council’s recent vote not to approve MVC as a Paly course.
Instead, Paly Principal Brent Kline committed in December to offering MVC as a Foothill College class on campus next year.
Chiu said at the meeting that relying on a Foothill instructor contradicts statements made by Superintendent Don Austin and Assistant Superintendent Jeong Choe in January 2025, in which they expressed a preference for PAUSD staff teaching MVC.
“It feels like an illogical step backwards to hear the Paly principal state that the new goal is now to bring a Foothill College instructor to teach Multivariable Calculus on campus during the school day, rather than have students take the class after hours as they currently do,” Chiu said.
Since Paly math teacher Daniel Nguyen has publicly declared his willingness to teach the class at both Paly and Gunn, Chiu said the district should uphold its prior commitment.
“On April the 18th, 2023, a promise was made that if we had a qualified teacher, we could offer MVC tomorrow,” Chiu said. “That tomorrow is here today.”
According to Kline, one of the main reasons not to offer MVC is that it would disadvantage students who don’t take it when applying to most out-of-state public colleges.
“College admission folks say that if MVC becomes a high school or dual enrollment class, it becomes the highest level,” Kline said. “That means that students not taking the course, which is 95% of our school, would be viewed as taking less than the most advanced option.”
Chiu said she proposed putting MVC on the agenda for the next meeting so there can be a clear discussion about the future of the course.
“I would like to publicly propose that we agendize this item [MVC] for our next regular board meeting on February the 10th, so that the board, the district, staff and the public can have a clear and transparent discussion about the board’s intent, the implementation process and next steps regarding MVC and bringing this class forward for these students who have so strongly advocated for it,” Chiu said to the board.
Chiu was not the only member to speak on this topic. School Board member Allison Kamhi said to the board during the previous meeting that she wants PAUSD to clarify the uncertainty surrounding MVC.
“It has been unclear whether, when or how the class [MVC] will be offered,” Kamhi said. “I would like to ask the district to please provide an update to the board and community as soon as possible so that we can alleviate any confusion and be as clear as possible what students’ options are.”
Chiu said when the board voted unanimously to approve the MVC course proposal in December, the community had a valid reason to believe the course would be implemented.
“Board members, community members, the media and the public had a reasonable prima facie expectation that MVC would appear in the Paly and Gunn course catalog for 2026-27,” Chiu said. “Therefore, I am disappointed at the vote taken by Paly Ed Council on Tuesday, the 13th of January, that renders the board approval ineffective.”
Junior Leilani Chen said the district should focus on the breadth of mathematical offerings rather than just increasing the ceiling.
“We need to be adding to the range of math and not to the levels of math,” Chen said. “Math is not something that is linear learning. You don’t just go up each step, and it is just harder and more advanced math.”
According to PAUSD parent Leor Melamedov, many students requesting MVC come from immigrant families, and the administration’s stated aim to reduce academic pressure is disguised as cultural judgment.
“A lot of these so-called attempts at reducing pressure are actually judgments in disguise, made about different parenting styles, different cultural frameworks,” Melamedov said during open forum last board meeting. “We keep talking about wellness, but we’re not asking those kids or those families, ‘Why is this important to you?’ We’re not really listening.”
Chiu said her passion for mathematics played an important role in finding comfort in school as an immigrant herself.
“As someone who spoke limited English upon entering the public school system as a five-year-old, an ability to work with numbers bolstered my confidence at a time when everything did seem hard and strange and I struggled to belong,” Chiu said. “It is painful to witness students feel penalized for their love of advanced maths.”