Math Requirements Change for Class of 2024

By: Anna Williamson

January 14th, during the biweekly VUSD School Board meeting, representative Dr. Peariso, 9-12 Curriculum Director, spoke to the board on the mathematic requirement in VUSD.

As of now, the VUSD graduation requirement is 2 years of math to graduate in comparison with the UC/CSU which require 3 years. Both recommend a year more than they require.

Dr. Peariso presented statistics which show that “most of our students are taking multiple years beyond 2.” This has been a driving factor in pushing the math graduation requirement to 3 years.

Dr. Peariso also feels that students entering high school are “as prepared as possible and have the most options as possible” and he wants this to continue throughout students’ high school career.

Many districts that surround VUSD such as Tulare schools already have a 3 year requirement. “Districts that had the extra year of math requirement, their graduation rates did not dip…their graduation rates have increased over time,” Dr. Peariso says.

But even with wanting to push the requirement to 3 years, Dr. Peariso is asking for “a one year delay… currently for the class of 2024, so we’re asking for a delay for the class of 2025 at this point.”

He and his team would like to implement a Freshman option in the front end which would teach basic math principles and prepare students for Integrated Math I. The placement policy would be based on different factors, freshman wouldn’t be dumped into it and the class wouldn’t be able to be repeated.

They would style this Freshman class like the Sports Statistics class that was added as a back-end option for Juniors, that also counts as “Advanced Math” for UC/CSU.

They would also like to add algebra based business and personal finance class option that would be added along with consumer math for special education students.

Mrs. Vasquez, VUSD Board Member, expresses concern for what would be implemented to get students to 8th grade on track before they fall behind in high school along with many other Board Representatives.

Along with this, board members Mrs. Gamoian and Mrs. Naylor give voice to the students who focus on the arts. “We are going to be penalizing kids if we do a 3 year math requirement. The ones who want to take 3 years can…I don’t think that’s fair to kids,” Mrs. Gamoian says.

Board members also expressed concern on the recent lack of math and science teachers available in the district. Many members leaned towards postponing for the extra year because of this teacher shortage.

Mrs. Naylor motions to postpone and the motion is passed unanimously. No requirements will change for the incoming class of 2024.