The Board of Education discussed offering Multivariable Calculus as an on-campus, dual enrollment class at Palo Alto High School during its Dec. 4 meeting in the ASB room. The proposed course, if approved for the 2026-2027 school year, would be offered as a dual-enrollment class, meaning students enrolled in it could earn both high school and community college credit. As of press time, a vote on this proposal is scheduled for the board’s Dec. 16 meeting. 

Principal Brent Kline, though, does not support that idea and is instead proposing a version of the course that would be offered on campus taught by a Foothill College instructor and receive only Foothill credit. 

Typically, new courses move through multiple approval layers: department leaders, Ed Council, a district-level Steering Committee and finally the board of education. However, Principal Brent Kline said district policy also says course proposals can come directly from a staff member for board approval, a path he thinks will likely happen in his case.

Multivariable Calculus, which students can now only take off campus or online, is a college-level class that extends beyond AP Calculus BC. If the board approves either version of the course, Kline said whether it runs next school year still depends on staffing, enrollment and student interest. 

Supporters of offering the course on Paly’s campus as dual enrollment crecit said the current format restricts who can take the class. Specifically, junior Paul Wang said the scheduling forces difficult trade-offs.

“Right now, MVC is offered after school at Gunn and over Zoom, however, many student athletes like me have to skip practice to go to class,” Wang said. 

Wang also said offering the class during the school day would not significantly affect academic pressure. 

“Most people in advanced math are already on the pipeline for MVC,” Wang said. “If anything, I think it’s really important for the school to give us more support options to increase our threshold for what we can take in terms of courseload.”

Even so, Wang said the district’s broader cultural pressures, not the course itself, is the root problem of student stress. 

“I don’t think external academic pressure is good, and this is more of a culture issue our city has towards STEM,” Wang said. “I believe that pressure can be either used as motivation or stress.”

But other students, like sophomore Olivia Woo say adding MVC during the school day would only benefit a small number of students.

“Only about 1% of students would be in this class, and it could devalue every other existing math course at our school,” Woo said.

Instead Woo said the district should focus its efforts on adding more advanced classes in other areas.

“We already have plenty of math options, while other departments do not have nearly as many enrichment opportunities,” Woo said. “AP World History is one example of a commonly offered high-level course that is not available at Paly. There are fewer courses for students who want to demonstrate enrichment in the humanities compared to math.”

And unlike Wang, Woo said adding this class as an option would increase schoolwide academic stress.

“Our campus already faces significant academic pressure, both on and off campus,” Woo said. “Increasing academic intensity for a minimal group of students could negatively affect overall student well-being.”

In response to these concerns, Kline said MVC does align with Paly’s academic mission but acknowledged concerns about student stress. Which is why he thinks his proposal – an on-campus course only for college credit – would be a good compromise. 

“We’re here to provide every student an enriching and also a challenging academic experience,” Kline said. “There’s some negativity out there that kids are being pushed too far, and so I think ensuring that we maintain a level of awareness of how our kids are feeling and what they’re doing, (is important), so we could support them in all kinds of needs”

Kline also said the school already recommends limits on AP and honors classes, though those guidelines are not always followed.

“If we’re starting to get an uptick of students that are showing signs of being stressed … we need to communicate what is beyond beneficial in terms of class loads,” Kline said.

And Kline said MVC is unlikely to ever become broadly popular because of how advanced the course is.

“It’s a small number of students that take it,” Kline said. “I don’t know if (we’ll) ever get there because it takes acceleration and a lot of willpower.”

Additionally, Kline said adding MVC as a Paly course could shift the school’s academic profile, a potential negative for students applying to four-year colleges and universities who don’t take the course. 

“If you add it as a high school course, then our school profile would say Multivariable Calculus is the highest level course,” Kline said. “That could negatively affect about 95% of our students in that they’ll never get that goal.”

Regardless of the board’s decision, what Kline said he hopes to do is balance the needs of the small number of those who want a college-level math class on campus with the need to maintain a healthy academic atmosphere on campus.

“Right now, we offer it through Foothill as a college course, and that’s what I would prefer doing.” Kline said. “But long story short, we’re going to offer it, but I think it’s smarter to offer it at the college level. It gives kids credit and doesn’t negatively affect the majority of the school.”