Mountain View teacher tells board scheduling changes threaten Calculus AB/BC offerings

Jeff Bolin, a Mountain View High School teacher, used the public-comment period on May 21 to urge district leaders to fix a recent scheduling breakdown that he said would remove Calculus AB or BC from the site's course list despite earlier assurances. Bolin said his department was told — 17 days before the meeting — that it could not run both Calculus AB and Calculus BC after preregistration numbers had indicated both would run. He described repeated requests for district data that were not fulfilled in time and said teachers found it difficult to advocate when the "target keeps moving." (Jeff Bolin, public comment.)

Bolin told trustees he identified additional students who would enroll in Calculus AB but then learned the school might not offer Calculus BC; he said a principal cited a 25-student threshold while Integrated Math 1 classes ran with 20 students. "We are failing our most ambitious students," Bolin said, calling for administrative collaboration and promising to follow up with the board by email. The board did not take immediate action during the meeting; Bolin asked trustees to reach out and participate in follow-up discussions with his department.

Why it matters: Scheduling decisions that remove advanced course sections can limit college-preparatory pathways for motivated students. The board requested staff follow-up elsewhere in the meeting and Bolin signaled he would send a written update to trustees.