Coal Creek Elementary parents share concerns about online accelerated math

Sep. 28—Parents at Louisville's Coal Creek Elementary are concerned about a decision to offer advanced math through Boulder Valley's online school, Boulder Universal.

Parents say issues include too much screen time, technical glitches and too many students, making it difficult for the online teacher to help when needed.

Another issue is a lack of communication, with several parents saying they didn't find out the class was online until several days into the school year. Others didn't find out until shortly before school started, not giving them enough time to look for alternatives.

Five parents took their concerns to the school board at its Tuesday meeting.

Fifth grade parent Carie Whalen said the online model puts her daughter at a disadvantage by not offering the same opportunities for growth. Online math students also must navigate multiple applications, don't benefit from in-person feedback and experience headaches, eye strain and fatigue, she said.

"We were surprised and upset by this BVSD decision to deliver online teaching to in-person students," she said. "We try to limit the amount of screen time our children have and are extremely concerned with the effectiveness of this delivery method for a core discipline like math."

Boulder Valley is providing online accelerated math classes through Boulder Universal to about 230 students at 18 elementary and middle schools. The classes include compacted fourth/fifth grade math, sixth-grade math for fifth graders, seventh-grade math for fifth graders, and algebra for eighth graders.

Generally, schools choose the online option when they don't have enough students in need of accelerated math to provide an in-person class. In the past, another option was for parents to drive their child to a neighboring middle or high school.

Boulder Valley spokesman Randy Barber said the district piloted online accelerated math last school year with 90 fifth graders who took sixth grade math. All but two of the students earned As or Bs, he said.

"It was highly successful," he said.

He said the district sees online classes as an equitable way to offer accelerated math, especially with enrollment declining at elementary schools. An online option allows schools without enough students for a class to still provide accelerated math, without providing a bus — or requiring parents to provide transportation — to another school.

He added Boulder Universal teachers are math certified, understand how to teach online classes and are using a curriculum designed for online math. A proctor supervises students at their schools while they access the online class through Chromebooks.

Barber said the district acknowledges better communication was needed for families at Coal Creek, with communication about the decision to provide an online class overlooked during a leadership change at the school.

"We certainly had a communication issue, and we regret that," he said.

He said the district also plans to look into the other concerns raised by parents to see if changes can be made to improve the experience for students.

"We appreciate the feedback, and we're going to take another look," he said.

Coal Creek parent Alice Srinivasan, who has a fifth grader, said at Tuesday's school board meeting that she's deeply concerned that the online accelerated class is hindering student learning.

"When you have 30 students in a Google Meet, there is simply no way you can gauge how they're all doing," she said. "You will miss when someone has a confused look on their face, when they're trying to ask a question but their microphone malfunctions, when they fail to submit an assignment in Schoology. I have first-hand accounts of all these things happening with my son, and the math teacher was unaware."

Parent Emma Rukhotskiy said she expected her fifth grade son to attend middle school for seventh grade math instead of taking it online. His online math class is shorter than an in-person class and also overlaps with fifth grade social studies, she said.

"He will start middle school largely having taught himself social studies," she said.

Fourth grade Coal Creek parent Billy Mertens, an economics professor who teaches online math at the University of Colorado Boulder, said the online format is developmentally inappropriate for elementary students — but his only option now is to hold his son back from an accelerated program or keep him in online learning.

"The district has put us in an untenable position," he said.