About six years ago at a “Preserving San Marino” meeting a former SMUSD Board member told the group that the district needs 3,200-3,400 students in order offer a rich slate of classes.
This is a six- to eight-year-old, pre-COVID mindset. During COVID, companies and educational institutions leveraged technology for remote-work, remote-learning and online teaching. Think Zoom and Teams. This continues today after COVID.
Caltech announced in August that admission requirements for calculus, physics and chemistry can be fulfilled by taking Khan Academy’s free, online classes and scoring 90% or higher on a certification test. Seems like San Marino students applying to Caltech no longer have to take an in-person course in calculus, physics and chemistry.
San Marino School Foundation’s $1.8 million donation provides for 40 full-time teaching positions. Just about the number of additional teachers required for 910 interdistrict transfer students. Why not spend $1.8 million to use technology to do more with less?
How old is the 3,200-3,400 student thinking? Let’s leverage technology to offer San Marino students a rich education experience rather than saddling San Marino property owners with parcel taxes and school construction bonds to educate students who don’t sleep in San Marino.
Andrew Ko
San Marino
First published in the Oct. 5 issue of the San Marino Tribune
