Petition presented to trustees to leave AP Art History with longtime teacher; at school board meeting, new high school principal announced

By Keri Luiz
Assistant Editor

At a district school board meeting where the old Benicia High School principal was officially dismissed and the new one officially announced, it was nonetheless the quiet shifting of one class away from a longtime teacher that got the most attention.

Though Principal Gary Jensen was officially relieved of his position Thursday and new hire Damon Wright, an assistant principal at California High School in San Ramon, was announced as Jensen’s replacement, the movement of Advanced Placement Art History into the art department — and away from teacher Pat Thomas, who according to several sources was integral to the launching of the program — provoked outrage among fellow teachers and students.

Teresa Finn, who teaches the high school’s Academic Decathlon class, presented the Benicia Unified School District Board of Trustees with a petition signed by more than 200 students and decried what she called

“Five years ago I took over teaching and coaching the Academic Decathlon team,” Finn said. “I was excited to be venturing into disciplines I had never taught: history and music and economics and art history. My fantasy was that I was really going to discover my gifts as a teacher. Honestly, I imagined myself as the next Pat Thomas.

“Of course what I have discovered since is that it is impossible, because Pat is as gifted an instructor as I have ever seen. Those gifts are rare, and I simply don’t have them.

“As for her Art History class,” Finn added, “it is nothing without her.”

Brad Thomas, Pat’s husband, told trustees she “brought to the Benicia Unified School District the AP Art History program. She is the person who dealt with the UC system to get it approved, and who has for the last 10 years nurtured and taught that class, and grown it to the class it is today.”

He said her name “in this community of artists, of people who appreciate art, is synonymous with the words ‘art history’.”

Brad Thomas said his wife, who has been on medical leave since April, was only told of the district’s decision to take away her AP Art History class at about 5 p.m. Wednesday evening, before it was announced on Thursday night. Nor was she consulted, he said.

“She was not called before, she was only called after the fact,” he said.

Ethan Thomas, Pat’s son, also spoke, saying he had planned to take her class next year. “My mom has always been known for AP Art History, and I cannot imagine anyone else running it,” he said. “No one else can restart what she has.”

Julia Rydman, a rising senior, said Pat Thomas “has one of the best and most unique teaching styles that any other teacher has yet to replicate. You can learn without trying because she makes it fun and interesting.”

She said it was a demonstration of Thomas’s abilities as a teacher that students in AP Art History achieve a high and consistent passing rate. “This isn’t coincidental but a direct reflection of how great a teacher she is. She prepares you so much for the AP exams and goes above and beyond what is required of her,” Rydman said.

“No one can do what she does, and without her, AP Art History would not be the same.”

Benicia Teachers Association President Carlene Maselli said she received an email from Pat Thomas and it was obvious the teacher “was quite distraught about having the AP (Art) History (class) taken away from her.” She encouraged the board “to rethink that and give that back to her. She has been teaching it for … 20 years, and it is her baby.”

Finn, in handing over the petition to the board, implored trustees to “read the comments of some of the 200 students who have signed a petition begun this morning. Yes, 200 since this morning! They are scattered across the globe, but unified in their praise of what Mrs. Thomas has given them.

“Mrs. Thomas’ course has made BHS a different school. I hope no one is fooling themselves to think that this course can be taught by someone else. Pat Thomas is the heart of this program.”

The petition is online at signon.org/sign/tell-busd-to-keep-ms?source=s.em.cr&r_by=4647345&mailing_id=4468. As of Friday afternoon it had been signed by 336 students.