Pleasanton School District: Possible Change to Accelerated Math Draws Opposition
Posted: Thursday, February 8, 2018, 12:00 am
By Ron McNicoll
An outpouring of parents and students made it clear to the Pleasanton Unified School District (PUSD) board that they want the district to keep the status quo when it comes to advanced math classes in middle schools.
Speaking at the public’s comment period at the board’s Jan. 30 meeting, about a dozen people, mostly adults, said that having accelerated math classes was the right direction for middle school students.
The district offers three math tracks in middle school: grade level, advanced and accelerated. On the accelerated track, starting as early as 6th grade, students can complete geometry in middle school and enter 9th grade at the Algebra 2 level.
According to parents who spoke, the district wants to eliminate the accelerated track in middle school, essentially pushing it up higher in the grades, which would take away the connotation of “accelerated.”
Two speakers said that the United States lags behind much of the world in math achievement, and abandoning the accelerated approach would eliminate a clear response to the challenge.
An online petition against the action at change.org collected 1400 signatures.
District Director of Secondary Education Ken Rocha told the board that he is still working through some issues with a draft plan. Rocha said he would meet on Feb. 6 and 7 in the community, and at a third meeting Feb. 28 to explain the district’s thinking on what it might do with the math program.
Since the item was not on the agenda, there was no report.
On another item, the board approved 2% raises for Deputy Superintendent Micaela Ochoa and Assistant Superintendent Odie Douglas.
They also received 1% one-time bonuses, which will be removed from the books after one year, and will not boost their future pay scales.
For Ochoa, it means a raise to a total salary of $207,661 this year, and a fall back to $205,645, as the 1% bonus goes off the books. For Douglas, the salary this year will be $202,949, and the following year $200,940.
The board was unanimous in approving Ochoa’s arrangement, which included another one-year extension. But the board voted 4-1 when it came to Douglas’s one-year extension in the future on his employment agreement.
Douglas has an extension to June 30, 2019. This will push his contract out to June 30, 2020. Jamie Hintzke cast the vote against the extension, but did not state a reason.
