##M:[more]##Last year, Brett Boal lost his campaign for a school board seat to long time member Stan Katz. Boal based his campaign on the idea the the school district was keeping some students from learning as much as they could, and that the curriculum should be changed, particularly in the math department. Katz said he was right.
“Changes were not made,” says Boal. “Stan said my analysis was correct and we should do this. It took the wind out of my sails, and I have kept asking what is being done to improve the situation, and I have not received anything other than vague assurances.”
Boal says he wants to cure the district of its complacency. “It’s not just in the math department, but the expectations and the effectiveness of that department is the easiest thing to talk about. We’re holding kids back who should not be held back,” says Boal, who is a business and technology consultant. “There are a lot of kids in this district who would be in advanced algebra in middle school if they were in a standard school district but they are being held back here.”
He says he has had no satisfaction in the many times he has approached the administration with his perception of the problem. “Victoria Kniewel [Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum] and Chris Herte [Head of the Mathematics Department] said they would look into it. I have no confidence that they get it. If any department should understand the statistics, it’s the math people. It’s the height of irony.”
Boal perceives that the problem is not just with the math department. “It is a pervasive problem throughout every aspect of the district. There are a lot of kids who are not being moved forward the way they should be. The expectation is that our percentages should be the same as the national average, which is on its face ridiculous.”
Boal lives on Parkville Terrace with his wife, Lisa, and their three daughters: Nina is in ninth grade at High School North, Eva is a fifth grader, and Elaina is in first grade at Village School. His wife is a radiologist. They have lived in West Windsor since 1999.
Boal was born in Nebraska, and moved to Illinois and New York before attending MIT for both undergraduate and graduate degrees.
