San Mateo Union High School District drops letter grades during its disrupted semester

The decision came after nearly four hours of deliberation and public feedback, which largely featured educators advocating for the credit system, while many parents and students called for preserving some letter grades.

Noting there is no perfect solution to address the needs of all those coping with unique and unexpected circumstances, trustee Peter Hanley most ardently pushed for the credit system.

“People are a little bit overconcerned about one single semester’s grades,” said Hanley.

The comment came in response to the dozens of school community members who claimed the pass or fail model would discount the hard work of students who strived to earn good grades.

Officials had first considered adopting the initiative earlier in the month, but pushback from parents and students postponed the matter until a meeting Thursday, April 16.

In response, officials also considered a variety of other hybrid models which would have attempted to give greater consideration to student achievement until the shelter-in-place order was issued in March.

Friedman proposed some alternatives which gathered little support, and Dwyer said she could not support a credit system that did not grant students the authority to choose which grading method they preferred.

“I don’t feel good about taking away choice,” she said.

But ultimately most officials felt the hybrid systems were too complex or inexact, and that the credit option would have been the simplest and fairest method of gauging student achievement.

Advocates for the credit system claimed it best accommodates students who are grappling with a variety of challenging circumstances while learning remotely. Teachers echoed this sentiment, while also noting the challenges associated with assigning letter grades to students kept away from the classroom.

Critics of the system felt students with good grades prior to the stay-at-home order would have no incentive to finish the semester, because they had already qualified to pass.

Furthermore, they expressed concerns that losing a high letter grade would harm their GPA and transcripts, making their quest to gain admission to a competitive university even more difficult.

Administrators claimed the college admissions boards have expressed a willingness to remain flexible when considering the grades for a semester that was disrupted across the globe.

To that end, Hanley said district officials must acknowledge that this semester cannot be held to the same standard as those prior.

“We have to got recognize that things are different,” he said.

Looking ahead, officials also agreed that a more comprehensive policy should be formed to gauge student achievement when remote learning is required. Such protocol will be necessary if a later surge in coronavirus cases occurs, and schools must shutter again, said officials.

For his part, Superintendent Kevin Skelly also backed the credit system with claims that it was the most equitable fashion of helping a school community grappling with a variety of challenges never known before.

“It has the most integrity,” he said, of the credit system.

austin@smdailyjournal.com

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