For a second straight week, parents are voicing concerns publicly about the secondary school grading policy implemented this fall by the Denton school district.
On Tuesday, several parents signed up to voice their opinions to the school board on the policy during designated public forum segments of the trustees’ bi-monthly meeting. Some waited as long as three hours to comment for three minutes.
The board did not respond to public comment responses Tuesday, and the grading policy was not a discussion item on the agenda.
Rebecca Boling is a parent who submitted written comments at the board meeting. She expressed concern about the policy and wrote that she wanted an understanding as to what motivated the district to change the grading policy for secondary schools.
She said she’s concerned students will “develop a false sense of security” and no longer feel the need to do homework or give their best on the first attempt at a test because they can retake it. She said she “can’t see this working in a college or corporate setting.”
“I believed DISD was very successful as it stood,” Boling wrote.
Last week, the district conducted a discussion on secondary school grading practices that was attended by several hundred people. There, concerned parents, students and teachers expressed agitation and worries about becoming stressed and frustrated with school, the overemphasis of tests and confidence lost.
The new grading system for secondary schools was implemented across the district more than nine weeks ago. Students receive grades for final drafts, tests and projects, known as major summatives, but their grades are not penalized for poor behavior or late, missing or incomplete homework.
Students no longer receive grades for homework and other assignments deemed minor summatives. However, they have opportunities to redo tests and research papers if they say they’ve made improvement by going to a tutor, meeting with a teacher or doing alternative assignments.
The major summative assignments count 70 percent of an average student’s grades and 80 percent of the grade for students taking more advanced and rigorous courses.
District officials have previously said that the grading policy was an administrative regulation that required no school board approval. Officials have also said they expect the policy to be fully implemented by the 2015-16 school year.
Maribel Harmjanz, a parent who left Tuesday’s meeting before her name was called to speak because she had to get her children home to study for tests the next day, said that she would like to see Superintendent Jamie Wilson meet with parents at Guyer High School, where her children are students.
She said she wants him to consider parents’ worries, thoughts and doubts about the grading system, and how it’s impacting students. She said by phone Wednesday that she feels there’s an overemphasis on testing and that the policy worries her.
Harmjanz said she’s concerned that few parents knew of the policy prior to it being implemented. It’s something they needed time to adjust to. She said she feels the district not consulting enough parents was irresponsible and not democratic.
Other concerns expressed Tuesday were that because of the new policy, high school students are “losing academic standing” and that students are stressed, according to written statements submitted by parents. It was suggested that the district reverse the policy and go back to the former grading method.
School board President Glenna Harris said the board was glad to have parents attend Tuesday’s meeting and offer feedback on the policy. It helps administrators and curriculum personnel in meeting student needs, she said.
The grading policy could be brought up again for discussion by the board in the distant future, Harris said.
“It’s not a burning need right now,” she said. “We need to work out the issues.”
Wilson said that David Hicks, the district’s executive director for secondary academic programs, has told parents he will send a response on what action the district intends to take in adjusting the grading policy later this week.
He said Hicks, who was out of the state Wednesday, has worked with administrators on how to gather feedback so that they can determine what adjustments must be made.
“Our district has a history of gathering feedback and making adjustments accordingly, and the grading policies are no different,” Wilson said.
Wilson was among the speakers during the open forum segment at Tuesday’s board meeting. He said he shared those sentiments with the public. Because the board was receiving no updates on the policy on Tuesday, he said he wanted families to hear from him on the district’s plans moving forward.
Mario Zavala, a Denton ISD spokesman, said within the past week, the district has gathered feedback. There’s been meetings with campus administrators, teacher leaders and student groups, he said, “to make adjustments where needed.
“The main thing we want to relay back to our parents [is] that we are listening and we want to improve communication,” he said.
Leaders of local teacher associations in Denton were contacted by the Denton Record-Chronicle, and while one said there would be no comment from their group, another said responses from members on the controversial issue are mixed.
Vicki Storrie, president of the Denton Association of Texas Professional Educators left a voicemail for the Record-Chronicle on Wednesday in which she said that “ATPE is not taking any sort of stand on the new grading policy.”
“This is something that’s been instituted by our district, and there’s a lot of site-based decision making as to how it’s going to be handled on each individual campus, and so, we are not making any kind of statement or public statement because it affects all of us differently,” she said.
Jason Shipley, president of the United Educators Association Denton chapter, said the grading policy was a topic of discussion among members at a meeting Tuesday.
The policy, he said, has received a mixed response from members. There are some things people like and some things people are attempting to understand and learn the benefit of, he said.
Shipley said that though some have praised the standards-based component of the new policy, others worry whether the policy is preparing students for college.
“It seems like most think there’s positive aspects. We just want to see ... in a year if there’s going to be some feedback and tweaking or how it’s going to play out for next year,” Shipley said. “I think that it has a lot of great potential. I just think we need to work and get feedback and tweak it as needed.”
BRITNEY TABOR can be reached at 940-566-6876 and via Twitter at @BritneyTabor.
