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Teacher urges board to protect retake supports and TOSA roles as PBL expands
Summary
A Novato Unified middle-school teacher, Grace Cosentino, urged the board to plan for student retakes and relearning supports within project-based learning, warning that loss of TOSA support due to budget cuts would remove a critical resource; she described logistical pressures on classroom teachers.
Grace Cosentino, a middle-school science and leadership teacher, used the public-comment period to outline classroom challenges related to project-based learning (PBL) and asked the board to preserve structures that allow students to relearn and retake assessments. She said teachers need additional in-class supports to handle retake requests without sacrificing instructional time for other students.
Cosentino noted that the TOSA (teachers on special assignment) team has been used to help with retakes and suggested that removing that role because of budget pressures would create a significant gap. "I need my lunch. I need my time before school and after school," she said, illustrating that teachers cannot absorb additional individual retake time without additional staffing or support. Trustees acknowledged the comment and invited continued dialogue with site leaders and central office staff.
