Teachers and parents urge MVLA board to pair ethnic studies with in-seat health; teachers say online health course is noncompliant

Teachers, parents and students pressed the Mountain View-Los Altos Union High (MVLA) board on Oct. 13 to reconfigure course schedules so all ninth-graders can take in-seat health instruction while still meeting an ethnic studies requirement.

The request followed two years of schedule changes that several speakers said have pushed many students into an out-of-district online health course that teachers say is medically inaccurate and not up to current state standards.

Why it matters: Speakers told the board that removing a semester-length in-seat health option for ninth-graders has shifted staffing and course loads across departments and left some students taking an online course that, they said, does not meet state legal requirements for health education. Board members asked staff for a formal report on health instruction at the next meeting.

Several teachers and parents spoke during the public-comment period about schedule pressure and curriculum compliance. “I'm here to speak in favor of ethnic studies to be a semester course paired with health, so option C1 as you guys decided…