Presentation by Robotics Team
Junior Vesta Kassayan* presented to the Board about the recent accomplishments of Team 766, M-A’s robotics team.
Kassayan began by introducing the team. Composed of 68 students led by 12 mentors, Team 776 competes in the annual FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC). He described the team as a group organized by roles, like manufacturing, electrical, and outreach.
According to Kassayan, Team 766 assists local First Lego League teams, where they teach middle schoolers about robot development. This program helped the team gain widespread recognition, and ultimately earned them the Engineering Inspiration Award—a highly prestigious award given by FRC—last year as a result of their persistent efforts to serve their community.
Afterward, Kassayan noted the team’s other recent achievements: they placed third in the Silicon Valley Regional Competition, they won the Team Sustainability Award at the San Diego Regional Competition and the Excellence in Engineering award at the East Bay Regional Competition, and they qualified for last year’s FRC World Championship in Houston.
To conclude the presentation, Kassayan described his excitement for the upcoming season.
Opting Out for Religious Beliefs and Customs
Associate Superintendent Bonnie Hansen gave a presentation to the Board regarding a new policy providing parents the means to opt their children out of selected instruction. In the June Supreme Court case Mahmoud v. Taylor, SCOTUS handed down a ruling that prohibits school districts from including LGBTQ+ content in their curriculum without informing parents first, therefore updating Board Policy 6141.2. Now, parents have the ability to opt their children out of instructional content that contradicts their religious beliefs, customs, or practices. From now on, annual parent notifications need to include curriculum announcements.
Trustee Koo asked if entire curriculums would need to be made available to parents with this decision, which Hansen confirmed.
Koo likened this updated policy to allowing students to adjust their P.E. attire to accommodate religious garments, and assured the Board that this policy will not result in any major changes in the classroom.
Reading of Revised Board Policy Concerning Academic Probation
The Board read a revised policy on the prohibition of academic probation. Academic probation is the practice of allowing students with a GPA below a 2.0 to continue to compete on sports teams, except in “emergency or extraordinary conditions.” Academic probation effectively allows students to play for their team with a GPA under 2.0 until the end of that grading period. The alternative to academic probation is forbidding students from representing their team in competitions while still allowing them to attend practices, games, and other team activities.
Academic probation has previously only been permitted once, during the spring semester of the 2020-21 school year. However, M-A continues to sanction the practice, as the only school in the District to do so.
Community member Steve Clark commented on the agenda item, requesting permission for M-A to continue granting students academic probation. He cited that 51% of M-A students participate in at least one sport, and claimed that banning the practice of academic probation would disproportionately harm students of lower socioeconomic backgrounds with fewer academic resources outside of school. Clark pointed to the social, emotional, and mental benefits of being on a sports team, arguing that the Board deprives students of those benefits by forbidding schools from allowing students academic probation.
After Clark’s public comment, Hansen stated that only one District site—M-A—wants to continue permitting academic probation for student-athletes.
The Board then discussed the merit of academic probation—Trustees Cruz and Nori expressed worry that students, particularly those concerned about ICE raids, are broadly overwhelmed. They identified that student-athletes could be penalized for poor academic performance caused by external factors.
Hansen stated that other schools grant students academic probation, and asserted that District sites’ sports teams might be at a disadvantage if they lose key players as a result of this policy.
Trustee Thomson mentioned that it seems like District sites have largely agreed already that they will not permit the practice of granting academic probation, which she was concerned by, since the policy had not been formally approved yet. She felt it reflected a trend of schools creating de facto District policy without the consent of the Board.
The Board decided to revisit this topic in a future meeting after gathering additional data regarding academic probation’s effect on students’ performance in the classroom.
The Board will convene again on Oct. 29.
*Vesta Kassayan is a journalist for the M-A Chronicle.
