Math plan is revised again to add more teacher perspective
By Betsy Avelar
Staff Writer
Gilroy – A math plan to aid faltering test scores was again revised by a group of teachers, administrators and union representatives to finalize a recommendation to the school board.
The approval for a math plan was taken off the agenda three days prior to the meeting because the plan was simply not ready, said board member Tom Bundros.
“Originally it was going to be presented to the board, but there was still questions after we saw the plan on paper,” said Michelle Nelson, Gilroy Teacher’s Association president.
In July the board tabled the approval of a math plan that was written by two administrators then presented to the board. The plan was rejected because it did not provide a realistic approach to solve the problem of low math scores from 3rd to 11th grades. Edwin Diaz, Gilroy Unified School District Superintendent, said the draft was made with the input of various people.
“They actually did the writing,” he said referring to Jacki Horejs and Olivia Schaad, both administrators. “They did not do it in isolation.” But, using two administrators to write the plan did not sit well with various board members.
“My concern is it needed some focus,” said board member Jim Rogers.
But focus was not the only problem. The group addressed accountability, time and increased workload, among other issues.
The problem of GUSD students failing math scores is something that the board has known for two years. The importance of ironing out the details is significant in that it includes how the resources of the district will be used to tackle the problem and how the plan will be implemented.
“It’s not just the teacher, it’s a partnership between the teacher and the parent to ensure that the student is successful,” Nelson said.
The original plan also included an increase in workload for math teachers, but it was changed at Thursday night’s meeting. The change had teachers performing additional work only during school hours.
“We just want to be realistic about the work load,” Nelson said. “We just need to be careful that we don’t have too many things happening at the same time.”
Lastly, she added, the plan should not have been up for adoption in the summer.
“Many teachers are not in town, they are not able to even look at this,” she said. “It’s important for everyone to participate in the revision of the plan.”
The plan will be presented to the board in September.
