Educators and parents urge Northshore School Board to reconsider cuts to deans and Math 8

At a March 10 study session of the Northshore School District Board of Directors, multiple teachers, union leaders and parents urged the board to withdraw or rethink proposed staffing reductions that would eliminate deans of students and remove Math 8 from the secondary course offerings.

The speakers said the proposed reductions, raised as part of the district's ongoing budget discussions, would remove staff who provide daily student supports and would accelerate middle-school math so students who need extra time could be moved into Algebra 1 before they are ready.

Those concerns were repeated across more than a half-dozen public comments during the board's allotted association and public comment period. Lauren Dandridge, certificated vice president of the North Shore Education Association, said educators already have accepted contract concessions and urged the board to find savings elsewhere: "If central office administrators, all of whom already earn over a hundred and $50,000 per year and most of whom earn over $200,000 per year, forego an inflationary increase ... the district will save over $270,000." She also outlined additional administrative savings scenarios she said would cover multiple dean positions.

Math teachers described classroom effects they say would follow from condensing middle-school math. Ryan Adams, a math teacher and department head at Leota, said that, this year, Math 8 and Algebra 1 classes have been nearly identical for months because many students entered Algebra 1 without essential prior skills: "My Math 8 class and ALG 1 were nearly identical for a few months," Adams said, adding that in Math 8 teachers can spend extra time for retakes and remedial work that Algebra 1 will not provide.

Erin Moody, a math teacher and department chair at Bothell High School, told the board she and other math teachers had met with district administrators to oppose removing Math 8 and asked the district to publish the data justifying the change: "We are math teachers. We expect data and evidence. We would like the district and the board to provide justification for this decision and the data to back it up." Moody asked for year-by-year progression data showing which students who took Algebra 1 early continued through AP calculus and other advanced coursework.

Other speakers stressed the student-facing role deans play in restorative practices and school safety. Bethany Valente, a fourth-grade teacher at Canyon Creek, said losing deans would force classroom teachers to handle conflicts and restorative work without dedicated staff: "Our dean is a huge part of that and being able to pull students when teachers have to be with the rest of their classes. It'll just drive up all the teacher time that is needed outside the classroom and away from instruction." Talia Rich, a district teacher and NSEA executive board member, called deans "literal boots on the ground" who make the most daily impact on students.

Speakers also warned of an equity impact if families who could afford private tutors use them to fill gaps while others cannot. Lindsey Moffitt, department head at Woodinville High School, said pushing students rapidly through math risks creating lasting math anxiety: "We're telling them that it is not okay to learn at their own pace, it is not okay to struggle, and it is not okay to be different than their peers. We are creating a generation of students who have math anxiety."

Board members did not vote on staffing or curriculum changes during the meeting. Several board members thanked speakers for their comments and noted the district's ongoing budget process; the board did not announce a final decision on the dean positions or Math 8 during the session.

The public commenters requested specific follow-up: the teachers asked the district to publish data showing student course progressions and outcomes after early Algebra placement; union leaders asked the board to consider administrative salary adjustments before cutting student-facing positions.

The district's superintendent, Michael Tully, and board members acknowledged receipt of comments during the meeting but made no formal action on the items raised. The record of the meeting shows the comment period concluded before the board moved on to other agenda items including procurement votes and monitoring reports.