ELA Scores Slide to 69% as Trustees Question What Tests Measure

The San Mateo Union High School District's share of students meeting or exceeding state English standards fell from 74% to 69%. The drop was steepest for Latino and Pacific Islander students, and trustees spent more than an hour on the Sept. 24, 2026, data presentation debating whether the scores reflect learning or student effort. The board also unanimously approved a 4% raise for AFSCME-represented classified staff and pressed for joint traffic-safety action with cities after a crash near Aragon High.

• ELA proficiency fell five points to 69%. Pacific Islander students dropped from 42% to 26%.
• Math edged up to 51%, but about a quarter of on-level Algebra 2 students met the standard.
• Trustees questioned test seriousness, grade inflation and course segregation and requested demographic data.
• AFSCME deal approved 5-0 with a 4% raise and one-time payments.
• Nearly 200 community emails prompted a push for a traffic-safety item with city partners.

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Scores Fall, and the Board Debates Why

The basics: CAASPP is California's annual standardized test. The presentation fell under goal 2, "humanizing education," of the district's Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP). The board took no vote.

Why it matters: Equity gaps held or widened despite supports added in prior years. Trustees now want consistent measures to judge which interventions work.

Where things stand: Dr. Kempke, of the Division of Instructional Services, opened with the district's on-track metric, which counts current 11th graders who have earned 110 credits. Multilingual, socioeconomically disadvantaged and Latino students improved on that measure. Pacific Islander students and students with IEPs declined.

Dr. Simmons, district staff, then walked through the CAASPP results. Latino students fell from 50% to 42% meeting standard, and socioeconomically disadvantaged students fell from 51% to 43%. Science showed modest gains. "We still have none of our multilingual learners passing this assessment," said Dr. Simmons. A new matched analysis tracking students from eighth to 11th grade excludes roughly 23% of students who lack an eighth-grade score.

Effort or achievement: Superintendent Randall Booker noted that 75% of students are UC A-G eligible and suggested many students may not take the test seriously. "I'm going to have a one-question survey for every student that takes it," said Superintendent Booker. Dr. Kempke described an AP English teacher who tells students, "If you want a letter of rec next year, you need to make sure that you are passing the CAASPP." A student board representative floated incentives.

The other side: "The same problems exist and we haven't moved, with the Pacific Islanders and Latinos," said Trustee Robert H. Griffin. He also raised the possibility of grade inflation: "I think we should examine it." Trustee Ligia Andrade Zúñiga cautioned against dismissing the data and pushed for MAP Growth results as a consistent yardstick. She also raised AI's possible effect on writing: "We don't want to offload the cognitive load."

What's working: At Hillsdale, the share of students reaching Algebra 2 rose from 84% to 90% after the school moved geometry earlier in the sequence. Aragon's roaming math produced roughly double the expected MAP growth in Algebra 1, and Burlingame's Building Thinking Classrooms showed early gains. San Mateo High is piloting a six-week intervention for 11 Algebra 1 students. Staff cautioned that the findings are observational, not causal. "I think tradition needs to be defied here," said Trustee Greg Land. "I think that we should take what's working the best and replicate that across sites if possible," said Trustee Andrade Zúñiga.

Who sits where: A student board representative described advanced classes as predominantly white and Asian, calling the score gaps "the same demographics that I see separated in my classes." Trustees asked for the demographic makeup of Algebra 2 versus AP Calculus. Staff acknowledged disproportionality. Trustee Griffin recalled the district's history of tracking and warned against labeling students.

What's next: Staff will return with longitudinal MAP data and course-demographic breakdowns.

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Trustees Push Cities on School-Route Safety

Why it matters: The district doesn't control streets. Trustees still want a coordinated response after a crash near Aragon High, which a student representative raised at the meeting.

Where things stand: Board President Teri L. Chavez said the board received close to 200 emails. Trustee Griffin stressed the need for safe routes to school. Trustee Land called traffic danger a universal community problem requiring enforcement, education and laws. "It has got to be a multifaceted thing," said Trustee Land.

Board Vice President Jennifer Jacobson cited Move San Mateo. "I want to thank the City Council for not moving forward with speed limit increases that was on their agenda this week," said Vice President Jacobson. She added, "I just wonder what we can do as a district to raise awareness, to make driver's ed more accessible to our young people."

Trustee Andrade Zúñiga made the issue personal: "I'm a wheelchair user because I was a distracted driver."

What's next: Trustee Land asked staff and the superintendent to plan a future agenda item and identify which cities to engage.

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Labor Deals Clear Without Dissent

Why it matters: The agreements lock in compensation for classified staff and adult school teachers, a recurring budget commitment for the district.

Where things stand: The AFSCME tentative agreement includes:
- A 4% raise and clarified emergency callback rules
- Continued benefits for full-time workers, prorated for part-time workers
- One-time payments of $650 or $1,300 by health tier
- A separate $1,000 one-time payment, prorated for part-time workers

The Adult School Federation of Teachers reopener covered salary, health and welfare, and professional development compensation. Specific terms were not read aloud. Earlier, Jesse Tolliver, President of the San Mateo Adult School Federation of Teachers (CFT Local 4681), reported 13 students becoming U.S. citizens, more than 500 ESL registrations and 438 career education students.

Decisions and stakeholder impacts: Trustee Land moved and Trustee Andrade Zúñiga seconded both items. Each passed by voice vote (For: 5, Against: 0, Absent: 0). No one spoke at either public hearing.

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Minor Items

• Closed session: Two special education settlements, cases 26-27/3 and 26-27/4, approved 5-0 with no case details released.
• Personnel: Consent agenda and addendum approved 5-0. Actions include a San Jose State student-teacher agreement and an event-pay schedule correction.
• Textbooks: Resolution certifying instructional materials adopted 5-0 after a hearing with no speakers.
• Plastics: Mills juniors Michaela Ho and Aiden Fang urged switching to compostable utensils once current plastic inventory runs out, and asked to return to the board.
• Proclamations: Student representatives read proclamations for LGBTQIA+ History Month, National Disability Awareness Month and Filipino American History Month.

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Looking Ahead

Trustees plan to revisit the governance handbook, likely at an October retreat. The review will clarify who responds to community emails and when the board takes a position. A pulled policy item, W2, will return after further revisions.