Quiet whispers as a student walks up to the podium. There’s crinkling as a piece of binder paper is unfolded onto the podium. A student’s throat clears. The timer clicks, signaling the beginning of a minute — one minute for a student to speak.
Student voices have been a central part of school board discussions in the past. The back-and-forth on Multi-Variable Calculus is no exception; and the debate is not over. The Palo Alto Unified School Board will be voting about whether to offer Multi-Variable Calculus as an official on-campus class at a board meeting on Dec. 16. Anthro Magazine urges students to make their voices heard.
The debate over whether to provide MVC has persisted in the district for years and was even a key topic for school board elections last year. At that time, Palo Altans voted for board representatives with overall positive viewpoints on academic acceleration — offering more opportunities for high-achieving students.
Acceleration is at the heart of the MVC debate. The district currently allows for students to take a skip test after fifth, sixth and seventh grade, enabling them to take geometry in eighth grade. This sets them up to eventually complete BC Calculus in 11th grade and, if they can find a class off-site outside the school day, take MVC in their senior year.
Currently, Paly students are taking MVC as an online course at DeAnza or as an after-school class at Gunn, extending from 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. twice a week. Students have raised concerns, including a short window of time to get home, a lack of availability for extracurriculars, and less engaged learning.
Atlas Gerristen, a student taking MVC at DeAnza online, said that the schedule has introduced inconveniences to his schedule.
“So far it’s been a little annoying to have to stay at school until 7 p.m. or rush home,” Gerristen said. “But at least the classes are somewhat interesting.”
So currently, students have access to MVC through community college, but not directly offered by the school itself.
In a previous interview with the Incubator and The Paly Voice on Sept. 11, Superintendent Don Austin said he was interested in offering MVC, but said that the class had not been implemented due to a lack of teachers with the credentials to teach the course.
“We don’t have a teacher who’s qualified to teach it that wants to teach it,” Austin said. “That’s the bottom line.”
However, recently, Paly math teacher Daniel Nguyen said he proposed the course and gained the credentials to teach it with the motivation to help interested students.
“What motivated me was just seeing that there’s a large demand in the community for this [MVC course],” Nguyen said. “I’m just trying to heed their call and give them this. I help them learn this information and these concepts that I personally find very interesting. I’m sure they’ll be engaged with it too.”
The Paly Math Department recommended the course 12-1, with two abstentions. Following this, the proposal went to Paly Ed Council, which on Sept. 30, considered and voted to reject MVC. Despite Ed Council choosing not to recommend the course, it will go to the board next month.
Opposing MVC has historically boiled down to two major concerns: One, that the students able to pass these skip tests and get to MVC have more resources and are disproportionately privileged compared to students who don’t. And two, the fear that acceleration could place increased pressure on students to get to this level of math.
Sandra Cernoborni, a Paly college counselor, offered information to Ed Council against MVC.
“If that [MVC] could be perceived (by colleges) as the highest level that students would achieve to be in the most rigorous classes at Paly, it could make those select students more competitive for admission,” Cernoborni said. “But it could also make it potentially more challenging for anyone else who doesn’t reach that threshold.”
According to Cernoborni, students applying to some out-of-state public schools and private universities could be disadvantaged for not reaching MVC.
This supports previous community concerns about increased pressure on students to accelerate and take harder level courses.
In a Midpeninsula Post article covering student perspectives on MVC expressed at the PAUSD board meetings, Henry M. Gunn student board representative Daniel Pan said that offering the course could harm student mental health.
“If students feel that they’re not challenged in math, they should seek other options outside the school,” Pan said. “We should not be changing a system to promote more competition and continue brewing our already toxic culture.”
There is a demand for the course: Of 54 AP Calculus BC students at Paly who are qualified to take the MVC course next year, 46 would consider taking the course.
According to Anika Deshpande, a junior currently taking AP Calculus BC, she hopes to have the chance to take MVC in school.
“I would love it if the board voted to offer the course on campus,” Deshpande said. “It is offered at Gunn High School (outside the school day), and has been successful from what I’ve heard. In fact, I know that many Paly kids opted to take MVC at Gunn this year, and I am planning to take it there next year if Paly fails to offer it.”
According to Paly student board representative Dylan Chen, he has seen student support growing for MVC on campus.
“In regard to my personal views on Multi-Variable Calculus, as far as what I’ve seen online and heard from teachers and from students, there is an increase in support for Multi-Variable Calculus this year,” Chen said. “If there is student demand, we have teachers willing to teach and we have a district willing to support this course in the future, currently I do not see a reason why we should reject Multi-Variable Calculus on the board level.”
MVC is not an issue just for the students qualified to take the course. According to Cernoborni’s testimony, implementing MVC would affect students across campus, and so we recommend that all students be advocates in this issue. While we commend the students who have advocated for MVC, they greatly outnumber the students who have quietly expressed their dissent. All sides need to make their ideas heard on an issue that affects all students.
In a mid-November conversation with the Paly Incubator and The Voice, PAUSD board member Alison Kamhi underlined the significance of student advocacy.
“Student voice is incredibly important,” Kamhi said. “That’s one reason I’m here. Hearing what students have to say, who are in schools, and experiencing the policies and procedures that the board might decide on, is incredibly important. Even in a lot of the ways that we do procedures, student comment is first. That, to me, is a very demonstrative way of saying we value student voice.”
With previous issues such as the bell-to-bell ban and the advanced diploma, student voice was significant in changing the opinion of the school board and the resulting policies.
According to Kamhi, her mind was changed by students with the phone ban.
“I can only speak to my own opinion, but I was obviously in favor of a bell-to-bell ban,” Kamhi said. “I went into the meeting being in favor of it and came out being in favor of it.”
Students have opportunities to express their opinion. The board will continue to hold meetings with open forums for students to express their thoughts. Chen says he will be holding a Town Hall on Dec. 4 on the topic of MVC.
Whether supporting or opposing the implementation of MVC, students must be an advocate for themselves and for their community in this conversation. Have conversations with your friends over your thoughts on the course. Read more about the history of the debate on MVC. Come to the school board meeting and speak up. Who knows? Your words could change the course of MVC’s future.