Galt board agrees 8th-graders who pass high school math should get credits

The Galt Joint Union High School District Board of Trustees voted 4 - 1 to approve a new policy regarding students who take high school level math classes at one of the district’s high schools while in the eighth grade, with trustee Daniel Denier casting the sole dissenting vote.

Pending a review by the district’s legal team, eighthgrade students at the district’s feeder schools who take and pass Integrated Math 1 at one of the district’s high schools will be allowed to receive graduation credits, and count the class as their third year of high school math the district requires, provided that they pass an exam during the first semester of their freshman year.

Eighth graders who take and pass Integrated Math 2 at one of the district’s schools will also be allowed to receive credits toward high school graduation, provided they pass a similar exam.

“This has not been our practice, historically,” Sean Duncan, director of educational services, said. “We have not done this with our students.”

The recommendation came before the board, Duncan said, because nine current freshmen who passed Integrated Math 1 and 2 at one of the district’s high schools last year while they were eighth graders at Archoe Elementary School in Galt — one of the district’s feeder schools — did not receive the high school credits they thought they would.

According to the California Education Code, Duncan said, students must take a minimum of two years in high school, and the district recently added a third year of math as a requirement for graduation.

The students would need to pass an exam to challenge the courses during the first semester of their freshman year of high school before they complete Integrated Math 3 in order to receive credit for math courses taken while in the eighth grade, Duncan said, as students are not allowed to test out of classes below their current level.

“I’ve talked to the math department, and they’re willing to develop this exam,” Duncan said.

Board President Angela DaPrato supported the recommendation as she herself took high school level courses when she was in the eighth grade, she said, adding that eighth graders who take courses at high school must contend with a more rigorous curriculum and environment. “If a student attends and passes a high school course, they should receive high school credit,” DaPrato said.

Duncan said he would want an opinion from the district’s legal team before proceeding with the recommendation as he was not sure if the California Education Code would allow it, which trustee Terry Parker Owning agreed with.

“If this is legally OK, I would want to see students get credit for classes they took at Galt High School or Liberty Ranch High School,” Parker-Owning said.

Trustee Pat Maple also supported the recommendation, saying that the district should have been clear from the beginning on what its policies are regarding credits for eighth-grade students who take courses at the district’s high schools, something that the district has done for years.

“We’re trying to fix a problem with nine students that we created,” Maple said. “They did everything they were supposed to do. These kids should not have to suffer for something that we did.”