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Parents and educators press Murrieta Valley Unified board on $28K math consultant and pathway change
Summary
At a special meeting, parents and teachers questioned a roughly $28,000 outside math consultant contract and whether the district has adequate teacher input before considering a return to a traditional Algebra→Geometry→Algebra II sequence. The board said the report highlighted patterns in CASP scores and that staff will continue follow‑up.
Board President Nicholas Partardeu reconvened the Murrieta Valley Unified School District board meeting and opened public comment as parents and district educators criticized the district's recent outside math review and a possible move away from integrated math.
"Spending more than $28,000 to collect and present data that ultimately could have been done by staff raises legitimate questions about whether those resources were used as wisely as possible," said Mr. Jeremy Murphy, a parent, after reviewing the consultant's summary. Murphy urged the board to show the underlying analysis that would justify a major pathway change and questioned whether the consultant’s slides contained sufficient, pathway‑specific evidence beyond publicly available CASP trends.
Teacher and speaker Mr. Lee Resnol said the district should demonstrate how classroom teachers and the math advisory committee were consulted before public messaging that suggested a change in course sequence. He also asked which data support a return to a traditional sequence and whether other factors — including smartphone use and social changes — had been investigated.
Board members and staff defended the decision to commission the external review as a way to get ‘‘outside eyes’’ on CASP trends across grades. A board member summarized the report as a large slide set (the board described more than 400 slides) focused on CASP results, which highlighted both district strengths (post‑COVID recovery in many grades) and uneven performance across particular schools and student groups, especially English learners.
Staff noted the consultant used CASP as a consistent, districtwide baseline and did not incorporate local assessments such as i‑Ready or STAR into the product presented to the board. Board members said the consultant’s work reinforced known patterns and helped the district identify where to dig deeper rather than immediately mandate a curriculum change.
What happens next: the LCAP presentation and a required public hearing were held the same night and the board indicated the full LCAP and any curriculum recommendations would return for formal approval on the board agenda on June 16. Board members also encouraged more outreach to teachers through PLTs and the district math advisory committee to capture broader practitioner input before any binding action.
Sources: public comment by Mr. Jeremy Murphy and Mr. Lee Resnol; LCAP and consultant discussion presented during the board meeting.
