Students, Parents and Graduates Line Up to Support AP Art Teacher

Students and their parents,  teachers and graduates of came to the regularly scheduled school board meeting Thursday night to ask the board to reconsider a decision to change the instructor of the Advanced Placement Art history class at the high school.

The class was developed and taught by Pat Thomas who has been absent from the school since early April while she works to recover from an illness.

Thomas’ husband Brad opened the public comment section of the meeting by asking the board to reconsider the decision to let someone else teach the class.

English teacher Teresa Finn spoke about how Thomas’ teaching style inspired her. “My fantasy was that I was now really going to discover my gifts as a teacher – honestly, I imagined myself as the next Pat Thomas,” said Finn as she talked about taking over the Academic Decathlon class at the high school.

Thomas’ husband pointed out that her AP Art History class is popular with students who don’t normally take advanced placement classes. “ This is the only AP class that a lot of students will take at Benicia High School,” said Thomas.

An online petition has over 300 signatures supporting Thomas’ bid to get the class back.Thomas left the following message for supporters on the petition website:

Dear Students and Community; This link was forwarded to me today and I was unbelievably touched by your support and kind comments. I cannot thank you enough! I also want to make sure that it is understood that I was never in danger of losing my job at BHS. The district only told me they were transferring APAH to the Art Department and that I would be teaching History. Hopefully, they will reconsider their decision. Thank you so much! Love, Mrs. Thomas.

Did you have Pat Thomas for AP Art History?  Did any of your children have Mrs. Thomas for AP Art History?  Tell us if you think she should continue to teach the class.

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If there’s something in this article you think should be corrected, or if something else is amiss, call editor JB Davis at 707-628-0051 or email him at benicia@patch.com.