Faculty and veteran students tell board AB 1705 guidance is harming preparatory math courses

Speakers during the board's public forum urged reconsideration of how AB 1705 guidance has been implemented, arguing the result is loss of preparatory math offerings and harm to students.

Ken Konyuki, assistant chair of math at San Diego Mesa College, told the board that "AB 1705 has been used to eliminate math classes beyond the text of the law," and criticized a February study used to support those changes. Konyuki said the study's cohort average age (which he quoted as 21) and the exclusion of veterans and others skewed results. "The data is garbage," he said, and he described accelerated classes created under AB 1705 as unable to cover essential subject matter and under pressure to "just pass the students." He urged the board to "retract the 1705 guidance memos."

Vincent Williams, a disabled veteran and student, supported that perspective from a student point of view. Williams described using a math refresher course after military service to prepare for calculus and credited that option with his academic success: he said he made the dean's list and earned a 4.0 GPA. "Imagine having to recall math from decades ago," Williams told the board, arguing that removing preparatory course options would make progress harder for veterans and other returning students.

Both speakers framed their comments as appeals to the board to consider implementation and guidance that extend beyond the statute's text. The transcript records no formal board response or immediate action on AB 1705 guidance in this meeting segment.

The public forum was time-limited and moderated; no vote or directive on AB 1705 guidance is recorded in the transcript.