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Math department chair urges board to retain 8th‑grade teacher position
Summary
Tom Wall, math department chair, asked the board to find funding to fill a retiring 8th‑grade teacher position to preserve intermediate algebra and supports (learning lab, AIS), saying cuts would reduce student opportunity and increase class sizes.
Tom Wall, who identified himself as the math department chair, addressed the board during public comment and urged that an open 8th-grade math position be filled rather than cut. He said the district lost an 8th-grade teacher to retirement and that the district planned to replace only six of nine retirements; without replacing the 8th-grade teacher, Wall said some students will lose access to intermediate algebra that serves as a bridge to algebra II and college-readiness courses.
Wall described three primary impacts if the position is not filled: reduced opportunity (fewer sections for intermediate/advanced courses), diminished flexibility in scheduling (conflicts for students wanting both advanced math and other courses) and lost support for struggling students (the learning lab coverage would disappear). He asked the board to consider ways to preserve the position, noting that without it the district may force students into classes for which they are not ready and eliminate a fallback support option.
