Blair Park has long been the stepchild among Piedmont parks and public areas, ignoring pedestrians, dogs, and regular maintenance.

Beautification projects are found in most of our parks and street medians, particularly in central Piedmont, but the most visible Piedmont park, seen by thousands of passersby daily, remains in a neglected state. Piedmont public areas are generally regularly maintained and enjoy swept walkways, weed abatement, and regular tree trimming, while Blair Park has received little attention despite its prominence at an entrance to Piedmont on Moraga Avenue.

For decades weeds have grown uncontrollably, with ivy invading native species. Trees, ill-maintained, have been left to fall apart and present potential hazards to park users and passing vehicular traffic. There are no sidewalks within or bordering Blair Park.  Pedestrians or joggers going to and from upper Moraga Avenue are forced to either dodge traffic, stumble over uneven surfaces, or slog through mud within the park during wet weather. Students residing in the area have no sidewalks upon which to walk.

There is no fence between busy Moraga Avenue and the off-leash dog area in the park to keep dogs or children from running into the roadway.  

Piedmont is currently considering a comprehensive bike and pedestrian plan; the proposed plan offers little to increase pedestrian safety in and next to Blair Park.  The Park Commission, when reviewing the recently approved plan for Blair Park, expressed concern over safe access to the park.

During consideration of a sports complex proposal, many people expressed a love of the natural, open beauty found in the park. Numerous people residing in the Moraga Avenue area requested a well-maintained park with sidewalk access.

Why has Blair Park been neglected for decades?

The answer goes to what propels many park and public projects developed in Piedmont.  Prior to the recently failed proposal to build the imposing sports complex in the park, no organized group had pushed for park maintenance and improvements in Blair Park.  

Many special projects are found throughout Piedmont parks and public spaces that have reaped the benefits of both public and private funding. Friends of Moraga Canyon settled a law suit with Piedmont over Blair Park issues by requiring $15,000 be spent on a plan to maintain and improve the park. In January, 2014, the City Council accepted Phase I of the Blair Park Landscape Improvement Plan by consultant Restoration Design Group and authorized completion of construction documents for solicitation of bids from contractors.  A land survey noting the boundaries of the park is not available. The plan, while approved by the City Council, has yet to be funded.

Will Math Changes Reduce Student Options?

As many PCA readers know, the Piedmont Unified School District is developing its responses to California’s new “Common Core” standards for math.  These standards are intended to make math more “rigorous” and “real world” — which will require significant changes within individual courses, and may lead to restructuring of the overall K-12 progression of math classes.  After several listening sessions, the District staff recently shared its first partial draft of proposed changes.  Unfortunately, these could leave many students worse off than under existing sequences.

How Does Piedmont Math Work Now?

Students stay together for math in grades K through 5.  Individual teachers offer varying degrees of in-class “differentiation” to recognize different readiness and abilities, and there are some pull-outs for either enrichment or extra support.  Although the District has moved to increase uniformity, students’ experiences still vary depending on their teachers.

During grades 6-12, the approach changes, to create different multi-year “pathways:”

• Students who’ve done particularly well so far, and do well on a special test right after 5th grade start an “accelerated pathway,” taking 7th grade pre-algebra in 6th grade, with the option of staying on that pathway through  Calculus BC in 12th.  This year 36 6th graders (out of roughly 200) started this pathway.

• Other students take 6th and 7th grade math together.  Most take Algebra 1 in 8th grade and continue through Calculus AB.  Those who need more time and support can decelerate by taking Introduction to Algebra in 8th, Algebra 1 in 9th grade, and then can progress as far as Math Analysis.  This year’s 8th graders are split 85 in Algebra 1 and 75 in Intro.

Numbers vary year to year, but the percentages are roughly 35:45:20.  Students can move up to a faster pathway by taking summer school (or doubling up Geometry with Algebra 1 or 2), or down by delaying a course.

How Does Common Core Change Math Courses?

Common Core’s designers intend that no student should skip any course, since they’ve designed each course to have less review material and more new material than some of the present courses.  Instead, they suggest that students’ progress can be adjusted by “compressing” or “expanding” courses to vary the pace of instruction: compressing to provide 3 years’ worth of information in 2 years, or even 2 in 1; or expanding to stretch 1 year into 2, or 2 years into 3.  The designers leave states and schools to decide when and if to create these pace-based pathways.

What’s Being Proposed for Piedmont?

Piedmont staff have issued their first draft of a proposal to phase in changes to Piedmont’s math offerings, beginning with 6th grade changes during next school year (2014-15).  In this draft:

• 6th grade – all students would stay together (no acceleration/compression), with additional effort to offer in-class differentiation, enrichment and support

• 7th grade – higher-readiness students might start a compressed track (e.g., 7th, 8th, and Algebra 1 in 2 years), or compression might be delayed until high school while all students stay together

• 8th grade – higher-readiness students might or might not be on a compressed track; presently there’s no proposal to replace Intro to Algebra for students who need more time and support, so all students may stay together

• High School – generalized commitment for faster track to reach Calculus BC, and to develop appropriate pathway for slower track.  No firm proposal, but latest example compresses 2:1 in 11th grade (Algebra 2 and Math Analysis) and/or in 12th grade (compress Calculus AB and BC into one year)

What’s Risky About This Proposal?

Although there’s no way to be certain how a new program will work until it’s implemented, the draft proposal has several risky features:

• None of us have found any national, statewide, or Piedmont data supporting the suggestion that deferring “pathways” helps math outcomes.  In contrast, we know that Piedmont’s accelerated pathway students have achieved very high results every year (grades, test scores, and some reporting by graduates about their college experiences), middle pathway students have done well, and students on the slower pathway have struggled to meet statewide standards.

• Every year without pathways is another year when students at all readiness levels share the same classroom – so teachers must not only revamp their courses to meet Common Core standards, but would have to differentiate their intsruction to meet the widest possible range of math readiness and learning styles.  And students would have to accommodate classmates with readiness levels very different from their own.  This isn’t impossible, but math differentiation in Piedmont’s existing courses is still problematic after years of efforts, and it’s likely to be harder rather than easier next year.

• Delayed compression means that less-ready students would not receive “expanded” courses until spending more years trying to keep up, and accelerated students would be taking 2-for-1 math in 11th grade, which is already the toughest year for most Piedmont students

Parents are working with the District and each other to reduce these risks by continuing to improve the staff proposal.  To learn more, you can visit the District’s Common Core webpage at http://www.piedmont.k12.ca.us/curriculum/common-core, or the latest version of a presentation used in public meetings, atwww.piedmont.k12.ca.us/communications/common-core-math-implementation-faq.    In addition, the Piedmont Advanced Learners Program Support group has also accumulated information, and is distributing on online petition (which attracted 130 e-signatures in its first 3 days) asking the District to reconsider its options – athttp://piedmontalps.org/math-petition.

Please take the time to learn more, offer your views through the online petition, or write the School Board or Assistant Superintendent Randy Booker.  As of this writing the Board has provided no guidance on this important issue, so your views can help the process.

Jon Elliott, Piedmont Resident

Editor’s Note:  The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Piedmont Civic Association.

On Saturday, April 5, one block of Vista Avenue in front of City Hall became a street fair for public safety with two jumpy houses, free hot dogs & chips, and “Sparky” the firefighter mascot.

An emergency preparedness kit was displayed in a car.

The family fun had a serious purpose with experts and information on disaster preparedness and public safety. The “Safety House” trailer stressed fire prevention and offered methods for improving residential structure survival of earthquakes.

Firefighters showed off their quick response (down the pole!) responding to an emergency. Also in the emptied fire station garage, were displays, experts and informational brochures on disaster preparedness and fire prevention.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) exhibited earthquake hazards, and PG&E brought exhibits on electrical and gas emergencies.

The fair was a joint effort of the Piedmont Fire Department and the Piedmont Public Safety Committee. Fire Chief Bud McLaren, Police Chief Rikki Goede and former chair of the Public Safety Committee Michael Gardner were present.