Modesto City Schools trustees take up budgeting plans, math requirement

Modesto City Schools trustees will discuss community input on their budget for next year, look at results reached last year and weigh lowering the district’s three-year math requirement for graduation on Monday. A student reception planned for the night will be held Dec. 7 instead.

Modesto high schools require their graduates to have completed three years of math, one year more than the state minimum. Entry to either of the two state university systems requires three years. Community colleges test math level at entry, requiring students below college level to take remedial classes.

In Stanislaus County, only high schools in Hughson, Newman and Oakdale require three years of math. Manteca high schools all require three, but Merced grads must take two.

Modesto schools have some math minuses to overcome, according to the agenda report.

High schools in Modesto place at the lower end in math achievement when comparing 2015 state test scores of schools with similar demographics. The exception was Modesto High School, where 29 percent of students met standards, a high mark among similar schools. Enochs High School had more students pass the bar, 34 percent, but the majority of schools with similar kids did better.

Across all grade levels, only 15 percent of Modesto students met state math standards, compared to a Stanislaus County average of 23 percent and a state average of 33 percent.

The agenda report notes math courses have the highest failure rate in the district, with 13.8 percent of Modesto high schoolers failing a class. Teens who fail to graduate tend to flunk math multiple times, the report says, with three students in 2015 blocked from graduating solely because of a lack of math credits.

Trustee Steve Grenbeaux asked for the study. Staff is recommending the board keep the three-year math requirement.

The board will also be asked to approve $10 million in two contracts for hardware, software and related services as it moves forward with plans to increase technology at its schools.

Budget discussions the district had with staff, students and community members are on tap for review at the meeting. This year the tension between competing budget demands is growing, with the Modesto Teachers Association formally declaring negotiations at impasse last week.

A review of three years of district data on areas it has directed spending will also be presented. The state’s new budgeting criteria aims to oversee school spending by results achieved, leaving communities greater leeway to spend as they see fit.

In other business, the board will consider two significant injury claims likely to become lawsuits.

The first is on behalf of Alberto Vazquez and Maria Hernandez, parents of Andy Vazquez, the Gregori High School student who collapsed after running in physical education class and died in May. Their son had a pre-existing heart condition.

The attorney’s letter claims that there was no call for assistance or first aid rendered “for an unreasonable period of time,” and that the PE teacher was insufficiently trained for such emergencies. The claim leaves open the amount sought, only noting it is more than the $25,000 threshold of lower courts.

Since Vazquez’s death, the district has set aside $62,900 to buy automated external defibrillators for its schools.

In a separate case, trustees will consider the claim of the family of Modesto High student Veronica Dorado, who was hit by a Modesto City Schools vehicle as she walked in the crosswalk at Tuolumne Boulevard and Yosemite Avenue by the campus on Sept. 21.

According to the attorney’s letter, Dorado suffered nearly fatal injuries, including brain trauma and fractured vertebrae, and her brother and sister, who witnessed the crash, suffered emotional distress. This case also does not list an amount for the claim, but says jurisdiction will lie in Superior Court.

This story was originally published November 8, 2015 at 2:54 PM with the headline "Modesto City Schools trustees take up budgeting plans, math requirement."