Burlington School Committee Approves Field Trips, Hears Math Instruction Concerns

BURLINGTON -- January 14, 2025, Burlington School Committee approves two out-of-state trips and faces sharp parent criticism over high school math. The committee voted 5-0 at its January 14 meeting to approve an after-school program trip to Chunky's Cinema in Manchester, New Hampshire, contingent on a nurse being present, and also ratified, after the fact, a wrestling team trip to the Eastern State Classic in New York. Two parents, Eileen Conti and Julie Page, spoke during a discussion of the district's new algebra pathway, with Page saying she pays $500 per month for a private tutor for her daughter in honors pre-calculus and that the tutor "can't even go over her test" due to limited access to assessments. Members Melissa Massardo and Meghan Nawoichik said they had heard identical concerns from multiple families. Principal Mark Sullivan confirmed that unit tests now go home after all students have completed them, and that the school maintains an internal tutoring center with three tutors and a math instructional assistant. Assistant Superintendent Lisa Chen previewed a new integrated grade-eight math course covering all Algebra 1 standards, launching in 2025-26, and said the district's literacy task force will select a curriculum program, either Witten Wisdom or Amplify CKLA, by February 11, with a final report to the committee on March 11.